Match Stats
- #20 Oregon def. #8 Washington 3-0 (25-21, 25-8, 25-22)
- Oregon moves to 16-6 (9-4 Pac-12); Washington falls to 19-4 (9-4 Pac-12)
- Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle, Washington (Washington hosted)
The surging 20th-ranked Oregon Ducks won their first game against #7 Washington since 2012 on Friday, taking a straight-sets victory to sweep Washington 3-0. That puts them into a 4-way tie atop the Pac-12 with Washington, UCLA and Stanford.
Lindsey Cander Weide led the way for the Ducks, as she has all season, with 14 kills on .393 hitting. That was part of a .343 team effort, which is only the second time this season Washington has allowed an opponent to hit better than .300 against them (Stanford hit .347). Simultaneously, the Ducks defense was locked-in, holding Washington to just .131 hitting on the night, which is their lowest offensive output of the season.
In the team’s first matchup, it was Washington who swept away the Ducks, but as the Washington post-game press release said, “nothing much went Washington’s way” in the repeat.
“Congratulations to the Ducks, they were outstanding in serve and receive, and when they do that they’re one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the country,” said Head Coach Keegan Cook. “So a lot of credit to them. I loved our response in the third set, after being at the lowest of lows after the second set, to respond and have a competitive third set says a lot about our kids.”
The game began the toughest run of Oregon’s schedule to date – their next 6 games are against teams that have spent significant portions of the season in the top 25 before they finish the regular season against rivals Oregon State on the road. While Oregon has likely already locked-up a spot in the NCAA tournament, earning at least a split in the rest of their top-25 run will assure them of a high seed on the road to Columbus.
Press Releases
Courtesy Oregon Athletics:
SEATTLE – The 20th-ranked Oregon volleyball team dominated No. 8 Washington on the road in straight sets, 25-21, 25-8, 25-22, to move into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 on Friday night at Alaska Airlines Arena.
How It Happened: The Ducks (16-6, 9-4 Pac-12) were dominant from the start in a hostile environment in Seattle, jumping all over Washington (19-4, 9-4 Pac-12) in the first set and then winning in astounding fashion, 25-8, in the second to go up 2-0 in the match. The Huskies found their groove a bit to start the third, but Oregon got back on track and ended the match on a furious run to claim its first win over Washington since 2012 and move into a tied for first place in the conference with Washington, UCLA and Stanford.
Lindsey Vander Weide led the way for the Ducks on a night they hit a combined .343, putting down 14 kills while hitting .393. Taylor Agost was just as effective tallying 11 kills while hitting .500 with just one attack error. Jolie Rasmussen added nine kills and tied her career-high with three aces, and fellow freshmen Willow Johnson and Ronika Stone each had five kills. Amanda Benson led all players with 22 digs, and Maggie Scott paced the Ducks with 26 assists. Oregon held Washington to a hitting percentage of .131 after it entered the match hitting .264.
Set 1: The Ducks started fast from the first serve, taking a 10-6 lead to force an early Washington timeout punctuated by back-to-back kills by Johnson. After Oregon extended its lead to 18-13, the Huskies started to find a groove with four points in five rallies to get within 19-17. Washington was able to pull even, 19-19, after a Ducks’ timeout, but Rasmussen responded for Oregon with a kill followed by an ace to go up 21-19 to prompt the Huskies to take their second timeout. After UW tied the set, 21-21, the Ducks rattled off four straight points to win the opening set, 25-21, with Stone ending it with an ace. Vander Weide led the Ducks with five kills while Rasmussen added four, and Stone and Rasmussen combined for three aces. Benson led al players with nine digs.
Set 2: The Ducks carried the momentum from their opening set win into the second, jumping on the Huskies for an 8-4 lead. A Washington timeout did virtually nothing to slow the Ducks down, as they erupted for an impressive 14-0 run to pour it on the Huskies and take a 19-4 lead before the Huskies got back on the scoreboard. Washington was unable to gain any momentum, as the Ducks ended on a 5-2 run to take a 2-0 match lead with a dominating 25-8 set win. Oregon hit an astounding .667 in the set with just two errors while holding the Huskies to a mark of -.190. Vander Weide was stellar, putting down six kills on seven swings without an error, Agost added three kills on four swings and Rasmussen recorded her third ace of the match. The Huskies committed eight errors on 21 attacks while suffering their worst set loss of the season.
Set 3: Washington was able to regroup a bit during the intermission, taking a 12-9 lead after an initial 9-9 tie. The two teams traded points for a handful of rallies before the Huskies went on a 4-1 run to go up 19-15 and force Oregon into the second of its two timeouts. Out of the break, the Ducks responded with a 4-1 stretch of their own to get within one, 20-19. The Huskies tried to kill the Oregon momentum with a timeout, but the Ducks finished the match off with a furious 6-2 run to sweep the eighth-ranked team in the nation. Agost was dominant in the third set with six kills on 11 swings, Rasmussen added four kills and Benson dug an astounding 12 balls. Oreogn hit .310 in the final set to close out the Huskies.
What It Means: With the emphatic win over the Huskies and a UCLA loss to Arizona, the Ducks move into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 with UW, UCLA and Stanford, and split the season-series with the usually-dominant Huskies. Entering the weekend at No. 26 in the NCAA RPI rankings, Oregon should get a significant boost from this win and drastically improve its chances of hosting in the NCAA tournament. In addition to picking up its first win over the Huskies since 2012, Oregon defeated UW in Seattle for the first time since a five-set victory in 2009. The Ducks improved to an impressive 6-0 on the road this season.
Up Next: The Ducks will stay on the road this weekend looking to keep a hold on first place in the conference as they travel to Pullman to take on Washington State at 11 a.m. on Sunday on Pac-12 Networks.
Courtesy Washington Athletics:
SEATTLE – Nothing much went Washington’s way tonight as 20th-ranked Oregon snapped a seven-match losing streak to the Huskies and upset the Dawgs in straight sets in front of a season-high 3,434 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Ducks created a four-way tie for first-place in the Pac-12 with the win, as they improved to 9-4 and the Huskies also fell to 9-4.
Oregon reversed the outcome from the team’s first meeting, when the Huskies had earned a sweep in Eugene. Both the first and third sets were tied at 21-all tonight, but the Ducks were more aggressive and stronger in their serving and receiving games and pulled out both sets. The second set was one to forget for the Huskies, or use as motivation, as Oregon won it, 25-8, for a final line of 25-21, 25-8, 25-22. Oregon had a 14-point run in set two to stun the Huskies, but UW rallied in set three and held a 19-15 lead, but couldn’t finish to extend the match.
“Congratulations to the Ducks, they were outstanding in serve and receive, and when they do that they’re one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the country,” said Head Coach Keegan Cook. “So a lot of credit to them. I loved our response in the third set, after being at the lowest of lows after the second set, to respond and have a competitive third set says a lot about our kids.”
It was Washington’s first 3-0 defeat at home since Sept. 16, 2011 against USC. The Ducks hit .343, just under the season-high for an opponent of .347 set by Stanford last week. Oregon had 49 kills compared to just 29 for the Huskies, who hit .131, a season-low. Lindsey Vander Weide hit .393 with a match-high 14 kills for Oregon and UO senior libero Amanda Benson dug everything in her vicinity as she had 22 digs. Washington’s three blocks were a season-low, with Oregon getting six stuffs.
Tia Scambray’s 11 kills led the Huskies but the next highest total for UW was just six by Courtney Schwan. Junior Crissy Jones moved from opposite to middle blocker during the match and had trouble finding her rhythm, finishing with four kills but four errors on 22 attempts.
Oregon took the first three points of the match before Scambray killed an out of system swing for UW’s first point. A tough serve from Bajema led to an Oregon overpass and Tanner punched it over for the kill to get UW within one, and then Avie Niece got a kill in transition to tie things up at 5-5. The Ducks retook control with a four point run to take the lead, 6-10, and the Huskies called their first timeout. Oregon kept the run going with a transition kill and then an ace to make it 6-12 before Schwan put one away from the right pin to snap the 6-0 Oregon run. Schwan rolled one down from the back row and then Scambray tapped down an overpass to get the Dawgs within four at 9-13, but Oregon responded with two back. Scambray used the block for a point and then backed it up with another through the block in transition for 12-15 Ducks. Bajema got an ace with some help from the net to make it 15-18 as the Dawgs tried to build momentum. Some determined blocking forced a Husky error and got it to 17-19 to force the Ducks’ first timeout. Out of the break, Bailey Tanner fired an ace off the receiver into the seats to get within one, and another Duck error had the Huskies back even at 19-all. Washington had a swing to take the lead but couldn’t convert, and Oregon scored and then aced the Huskies for 19-21 and UW used its last timeout. Tanner ran down a poor pass to bump set Scambray and the put it away out of the back row for a crucial Husky point. UW then won a back-and-forth on a Duck error to get even again at 21. Schwan was called for a double contact to give UO the lead back, and then Jones got blocked on the right. A long rally ended on a Scambray swing that the Huskies lobbied hard for a touch, but the refs did not see it, and it was se point Oregon. Oregon fired another ace, its third of the set, to end it on the next point, 21-25. The Huskies hit .220 but Oregon hit .244 in the set, and the Huskies had zero blocks and were out-dug, 17-25.
After no blocks in the first set, the Huskies got their first on just the third point of the second set with Niece rejecting the UO swing for 2-1 Dawgs. Jones got untracked with her first kill to make it 4-5 Oregon. But a 3-0 Oregon run pushed the deficit to 4-8 and the Huskies needed the early timeout again. The Huskies sent over a free ball that was put away, and then got aced as Oregon kept rolling. With the run at seven points, the Dawgs subbed in Jade Finau and Carly DeHoog looking for a spark, but Finau had a ball-handling error and DeHoog hit long and the Huskies had to take timeout again down 10 at 4-14. Another poor pass resulted in another Oregon transition kill as the run hit 10 points. Bajema snapped the run with a kill on the slide but the damage had been more than done and the Huskies would wind up suffering their worst set defeat of the season, 8-25. Washington’s prior low for points in a set had been 16.
The teams were even through the first 10 points at 5-5 as Schwan and Jones had early kills, and Bajema got a kill on an Oregon overpass off a Jones serve. Bajema and DeHoog had a block to put the Huskies ahead, 8-7. Scambray had a solo rejection, and then she converted in transition with help from a Destiny Julye dig to put the Huskies up, 12-9, and force an Oregon timeout. The Ducks had a pair out of the break to pull back within one, but a Tanner dump kill helped the Dawgs maintain a 14-12 lead. Bajema had a slide kill and Oregon served long as the teams traded sideouts for several points. Tanner fired a set back to DeHoog at the right pin and she put it down up the line for 17-14. The Ducks misplayed a free ball attempt out of bounds, and then on the next point Tanner set Scambray who hit crosscourt and down for 19-15, prompting Oregon’s last timeout. The Ducks got a kill in serve-receive out of the break and then followed with another in transition before missing their next serve for 20-17. But Oregon scored twice more to cut the Husky lead to one at 20-19 and UW used its first timeout. The Huskies nearly had two blocks on the next point but Oregon covered both and then tipped for a kill to tie it up at 20-20. The Ducks then took the lead, 20-21, but Jones put one down to snap the run and tie it up. But Oregon won two more lengthy rallies to put the Huskies in a 21-23 hole and force UW’s final timeout. Washington had multiple swings at the next point but Oregon dug them all and finally converted their own swing to get to match point, 21-24. UW saved one with some stellar defense but Oregon left no doubt, putting their next swing away to take the set and the match, 22-25.
The Huskies will look to bounce back on Sunday when Oregon State comes to town. The Beavers had an upset of their own tonight over Washington State in Pullman. First serve for Sunday’s match is 3 p.m.
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