MATCH STATS
- #2 Stanford def. #15 Oregon, 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-14)
- Stanford improves to 21-2, 14-0 Pac 12; Oregon drops to 15-7, 8-6 Pac 12
- Stanford, California
- Attendance: 2731
- Box score
STANFORD, Calif. – In a match that was originally slated to be a great top-20 battle, the Cardinal ended up being poor hosts in their 64 minute beatdown, 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-14). Stanford is now four full games clear of second-place USC with only six Pac 12 conference matches remaining.
The Cardinal were paced by sophomore Kathryn Plummer with 14 kills on .385 hitting on Sunday. She also added 3 digs, 2 blocks and a match-high 5 aces. Redshirt senior Merete Lutz added 13 kills on a season-best .688 hitting, adding 3 blocks to the front-row defense. Rounding out the double-digit kill performers was freshman outside hitter Meghan McClure with a career-high 10 kills, hitting .368. She also added 7 digs and 2 aces to the fray. Sophomore setter Jenna Gray, who leads the Pac 12 in assists per set, ran the offense to their second-highest output of the season (.519) by dishing out 43 assists. Sophomore libero Morgan Hentz finished with a match-high 9 digs.
For the Ducks, their lone bright spot was Taylor Agost with 13 kills. No other Oregon player had more than 4 kills in the match. Maggie Scott and August Raskie split the setting duties in the 6-2, dishing out 14 and 13 assists, respectively.
To the Ducks’ credit, they did not beat themselves. Oregon finished the match with only 3 missed serves and 6 unforced attack errors in the three sets. They even hit .421 in set 2. But Stanford proved to be too much offensively and dominated every aspect of the match, including kills (50-28), aces (8-1) and digs (29-16).
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Stanford Athletics
STANFORD, Calif. – Three Cardinal notched double-digit kills as No. 2 Stanford swept No. 16 Oregon, Sunday, at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (21-2) hit .519 as a team, its second-best output of the season, and registered 50 kills in just three sets. The Cardinal won its 16th consecutive match and moved to 14-0 in the Pac-12 Conference.
Sophomore Kathryn Plummer led all players with 14 kills on .385 hitting. The outside hitter also made the Ducks pay from the service line, registering five aces.
Redshirt senior Merete Lutz finished with 13 kills on a season-best .688 attack percentage, while freshman outside hitter Meghan McClure matched her career-high with 10 kills to go with seven digs and two aces.
Sophomore setter Jenna Gray, the Pac-12 leader in assists per set, finished with 43. Sophomore libero Morgan Hentz and freshman defensive specialist Kate Formico each collected nine digs.
Stanford’s middle blockers were also efficient offensively for the Cardinal. Sophomore Audriana Fitzmorris had seven kills on 11 errorless swings to hit .636, while junior Tami Alade finished 5-0-5 (1.000). Fitzmorris also tallied five blocks in the win.
Stanford improved to 59-4 all-time against Oregon (15-7, 8-6 Pac-12). The Ducks were led by senior opposite Taylor Agost, who finished with 13 kills on .385 hitting.
Courtesy of Oregon Athletics
STANFORD, Calif. – The 16th-ranked Oregon volleyball team was unable to keep up with the potent offensive attack of No. 2 Stanford on Sunday afternoon as the Cardinal swept the Ducks in Maples Pavilion, 25-14, 25-18, 25-14, and remained undefeated in Pac-12 play.
How it Happened: Oregon (15-7, 8-6 Pac-12) took an initial 4-3 lead, but it was all Stanford the rest of the first set as the Cardinal hit a blistering .619 to win, 25-14. Stanford (21-2, 14-0 Pac-12) used an 11-2 run in the middle of the set to pull away, and finished the first frame with a 9-4 scoring stretch to take a 1-0 lead.
The Ducks performed better in the second set, hitting .421 as a team, but it was not enough as the Cardinal hit .484 and again used a big scoring run in the middle of the set to take control. Tied at 4-4, Stanford scored 10 out of 12 to move ahead by eight, and Oregon was unable to get closer than four points the rest of the frame as the Cardinal took a 2-0 lead into intermission.
Stanford opened the third set with a 4-0 lead, but the Ducks fought back to pull even, 6-6. The Cardinal took back the lead with another 4-0 run, and then broke open a 15-11 lead with six straight to take command, 21-11, before finishing off the sweep for their 16th straight win.
Who Stood Out: Taylor Agost was the only Duck to finish with more than four kills, putting down a team-best 13 on .385 hitting. Lauren Page and Jolie Rasmussen each had four kills, and Rasmussen had the only ace of the day for UO. Oregon was held to .216 hitting while the Cardinal hit better than .450 in all three sets and finished the match at an astounding .519 clip.
What it Means: A road loss to the second-ranked and defending national champion Cardinal is unlikely to hurt the Ducks’ RPI ranking much — they entered the week at No. 10 — but Oregon came to the Bay Area wanting to show it could play with, and beat, elite teams such as Stanford. With six conference matches left in the regular season, the Ducks continue to search for a consistently dominant level of play as they hope to secure a host bid in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Notable: The Ducks were held under .250 hitting for just the eighth time this season … Stanford has now won 12 straight against the Ducks and leads the all-time series, 64-4 … Ronika Stone, who entered the match second in the Pac-12 in hitting, was held to two kills at a .143 clip … Oregon moves to 3-4 on the road this season … The Ducks were swept for just the second time this year, with both coming at the hands of Stanford.
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