Back Home to Host Iowa, Ohio State

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon volleyball team is back at Matthew Knight Arena this weekend to host Iowa and Ohio State, beginning with Friday's conference home opener against the Hawkeyes. First serve is set for 6 p.m. The Ducks' back-to-back home matches includes a Saturday matchup with Ohio State.

Oregon enters the Iowa match with a 9-3 record including a 2-0 mark on its home floor.

Series History vs Iowa
Oregon and Iowa will be playing for just the third time Friday and for the first time in Eugene. The prior two matches were played in Iowa City including the Ducks' four-set victory last season. Before last year, the programs hadn't met since 1987.

Series History vs Ohio State
Saturday will be the eighth all-time meeting between Oregon and Ohio State, and first in Eugene since 2014. The Ducks have won the past five meetings including a neutral-site match in 2023 and straight-set win last year in Columbus. Oregon owns a 6-1 advantage in the all-time series.

Last Time Out
Junior Valentina Vaulet had a career-high 28 kills in Oregon's five-set road loss at Northwestern (Sept. 28). Sophia Meyers and Alanah Clemente added 16 and 10 kills, respectively, and Cora Taylor dished out a season-high 47 assists. Oregon lost the first two sets before rallying to force a decisive fifth. Two of the Ducks' three losses this year have come in five sets.

Yes, Val!
With her career-high 28 kills against Northwestern, Valentina Vaulet recorded the fourth-highest total this season by a Big Ten player. She hit .451 in the five setter with just five attack errors on 51 swings. It was the seventh 20-kill performance of her career, and first in an Oregon jersey. She also contributed with six digs, three blocks, two aces and a pair of assists.

Service Pressure
Oregon is tied for fourth in the Big Ten with 80 service aces. Twelve different players have at least one ace entering the home weekend. Valentina Vaulet is second in the Big Ten with a team-leading 25 aces. Alanah Clemente and Sophia Meyers have 13 and 10 aces, respectively. Clemente tallied a season-high four aces against Northwestern while Maya De Los Reyes tied her career high with three aces in the Big Ten opener at Illinois.

Blocking is Fun
Sophomore Iva Sucurovic leads the Big Ten and ranks among the top 30 nationally with 65.0 total blocks entering UO home weekend. She has at least five blocks in seven of 12 matches this year including a season-high 12.0 blocks in a straight-set road win at Montana State (Aug. 31).

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