Home Weekend vs Minnesota, Penn State

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon volleyball team hosts a pair of top-20 opponents this week beginning with Friday's match against No. 18 Minnesota. First serve of this year's Dig Pink match is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon carries an 11-5 overall record and 2-4 conference mark into the week.

The Ducks play back-to-back days with No. 17 Penn State in Eugene on Saturday (7:30 p.m., BTN). Click HERE to buy tickets to Oregon Volleyball.

Series History vs Minnesota | MINN, 7-5
Friday will be the 13^th meeting in the all-time series between Oregon and Minnesota but just the second played in Eugene. The Ducks picked up a straight-set win last season in Minneapolis, the first meeting as conference foes. Dating back to 2009, seven of the nine matches have played out over at least four sets including four five setters. The only prior meeting in Eugene came in 2021, a five-set win for Minnesota.

Series History vs Penn State | PSU, 5-3
Oregon and Penn State have played eight times prior to Saturday's meeting. The teams met last season as conference meets for the first time, a 3-0 win for the Nittany Lions in State College. Oregon won the only previous match played in Eugene, a straight-set win during the 2021 season. The teams played four times as part of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge (2018, '19, '21, '22) but prior to that they hadn't faced off since the Ducks' four-set victory in the 2012 NCAA national semifinals.

Last Time Out
Freshman Alanah Clemente had a match-high 12 kills to lead a trio of UO players in double figures but the Ducks dropped a straight-set decision to Washington at Matthew Knight Arena (Oct. 12). The loss was Oregon's first on its home floor this season. The Ducks had set points in the first and third sets but couldn't close in the tightly contested match. Sophia Meyers and Valentina Vaulet had 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Clemente also tied a season high with four aces.

Service Pressure
The Ducks have seven or more aces in 10 matches this season including eight service winners in four of six Big Ten matches entering the weekend. Thirteen different UO players have at least one ace including four in double figures. Valentina Vaulet leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference with 27 aces. Alanah Clemente is tied for ninth in the Big Ten with 21 aces while Sophia Meyers and Cora Taylor have 11 and 10, respectively. Collectively, Oregon is fifth in Big Ten with 101 service aces.

Playing at MKA
The Ducks are 4-1 in home matches this season including a pair of conference wins over Iowa and Ohio State. This is Oregon's 15^th year playing at Matthew Knight Arena and the program owns a 149-56 mark on its home floor. That tally also includes a 94-51 conference record.

RPI Check
Oregon (11-5, 2-4 B1G) is 59^th in the Oct. 13 release of the NCAA RPI. The Ducks' next 12 matches will be against teams ranked in the top 40 including this week's opponents Minnesota (No. 15) and Penn State (18). The team will also host Wisconsin (RPI No. 16) next Sunday, Oct. 26., at Matthew Knight Arena.

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