Oregon volleyball competed in the LBSU Tournament over the weekend, winning two of the three matches that they played.
San Diego State
Oregon lost their first match of the season in their Thursday game with a five-set loss against the SDSU Aztecs, 14-25, 26-24, 26-24, 23-25, 12-15.
Also for the first time this season, the Ducks dropped their first set of a match. Oregon started slow early, and
got into a hole they could not get out of. Mid-set they were down 13-5, and never did gain a foothold against the Aztec attacks.
The Ducks recovered and took an early 10-7 lead in the second set. SDSU surged ahead with a 5-0 run to lead 14-11. Oregon evened the score at 17, 18, and 19, and the Aztecs again pulled ahead. Oregon took set 2 with a 5-1 run and evened the match.
In set 3, Oregon was up 12-6, but the Aztecs closed the gap, aided in part by the eight service errors that the Ducks committed in the set. SDSU tied the game at 23 and 24 points, but Oregon took the last two and took a 2-1 lead.
Set four was closely contested throughout, with 13 ties during the set. The last tie was 23-23, and the Aztecs took the last two points and evened the match. Early play in set 5 was also close, but SDSU took an 11-8 lead and the Ducks ultimately could not close the gap.
Two stats stand out in this loss. First, Oregon’s .192 H% will not win matches, and it didn’t against SDSU. The Ducks also committed 28 service errors to 16 for the Aztecs.
Long Beach State
Oregon rebounded to their first loss by sweeping Long Beach State, 25-16, 25-17, 25-15.
The Ducks started the first set with a 6-2 run and didn’t let their foot off the gas. Later, an 8-2 run gave Oregon a 10–point lead at 19-9, and LBSU could not catch up.
The Beaches played tighter in the second set. A 3-0 LBSU run gave them a one-point lead, 3-2, but Oregon followed with a 6-1 run. Although LBSU kept the game within one point in the middle of the set, the Ducks slammed the door on any hopes of taking the set in ending with a 10-3 run to take set 2 to its final score.
In set 3, Oregon raced to a 9-2 start, and at that point the sweep was the inevitable conclusion
The Beaches only hit .126% for the match, and .065% in the final set. No players finished in double-digit stats.
The Ducks ended with .305% hitting on the match, and cleaned up their service game in only committing three service errors. Valentina Vaulet led Oregon with 13 kills and three of the four service aces that the Ducks hit in the match. Sophia Meyers hit 11 kills and led the team with a .435 H%. Cora Taylor was the lone setter on Friday with 24 assists, and libero Natalie Fukumoto finished with 13 digs.
UC Riverside
Oregon volleyball took their Saturday match against UC Riverside in four sets, 25-21, 16-25, 25-22, 25-12.
The Ducks opened the first set with a 4-1 lead, and after the Highlanders closed to within one point early on, Oregon built a four-point lead by mid-set that they would carry to the end of the frame.
Oregon found themselves on their heels from the outset of set 2. UC Riverside jumped to a 4-0 lead, and would not relinquish it. Oregon was completely disjointed and only hit .071% in set 2.
Set 3 began poorly for the Ducks. The Highlanders immediately went on a 5-0 run, and Oregon spent the first half of the set catching up. They did even the score in the middle of the set, tying at 14, 15, 16, 17, and even 19 points before finally pulling ahead to take the set.
The Ducks started behind again in the fourth set, but finished strong, ending the set and match with an 11-3 run to come away with a victory in four sets.
The Highlanders hit .192% on the day. Oregon hit .283%, and has 14 service errors to nine aces. Sophia Meyers led the Oregon attacks with 16 kills, and Valentina Vaulet added 11 kills. Cora Taylor picked up a double-double with 30 assists and was the digs leader with 11.
The Ducks are 7-1 and come back to Oregon this coming weekend, but will still be on the road. They face Oregon State in Corvallis on Thursday and Portland State in Portland on Friday. Neither game will be televised.
