Van Sickle Serves Up 9 Aces as #18 Oregon Blanks Portland State

  0 Wendy Mayer | August 28th, 2018 | College - Women's Indoor, Division I Mid-Major, News, Pac 12

MATCH STATS

  • #18 Oregon def. Portland State 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-13)
  • Oregon moves to 1-2; Portland State moves to 1-3
  • Box Score
  • Portland State Recap / Oregon Recap

After facing two Top 5 teams on opening weekend, No. 18 Oregon earned its first victory of the season against instate foe Portland State. The Ducks denied the Vikings a reward for their 100 mile trip down I-5, issuing a loss via sweep.

Redshirt sophomore Brooke Van Sickle served up nine aces, second on the Oregon match records list to Lauren Westendorf’s 12 vs. Seton Hall in 2004, to lead the way for the Ducks.

All told, Oregon served up 13 aces, while allowing just two. The Ducks also more than doubled PSU’s kill tally (52-22) and outhit their foes .431 to .184. Oregon managed three blocks to the Vikings’ two.

In addition to scoring from the end line, Oregon saw two players post double-digit kill tallies: junior middle Ronika Stone (15) and senior outside Lindsey Vander Weide (11). Stone was on fire, hitting at a .700 clip (15-1-20). Vander Weide hit at a .310 clip, while rounding out a double-double with a match-best 12 digs. Senior middle Sumeet Gill chipped in eight putaways on a .636 hitting effort, while junior right side Willow Johnson (7), senior middle Lauren Page (6) and senior setter August Raskie (5) also chipped in offensively. Raskie served up three aces and added 12 digs and two blocks to go with her 39 assists. Freshman libero Brooke Nuneviller pulled up 12 digs.

Sophomore outside Parker Webb was tops among the Vikings with seven kills, hitting .389 (7-0-18) and serving up both of the team’s aces.Senior outside Jenna Mullen (5), senior middle Katy Wilson (4), junior outside Toni McDougald (3) and junior middle Whitney Turner (2) managed two or more kills, but it was not enough to counter the powerful Ducks. Freshman libero MacKenzie Sullivan paced the defense with nine digs.

The teams tied nine times in the opening stanza, last at 13, but Oregon took control from there, outscoring Portland State 12-2 down the stretch. Four different players posted kills with Vander Weide notching three as the Ducks ran the score up 24-14. Gill posted her third kill in the final run to clinch the victory. The Vikings hit just .086 in the stanza.

Oregon wasted no time in Set 2, cruising to a 17-2 lead before letting Portland State come up for air. Stone had five kills and Vander Weide added three in the run, which also saw Brooke Van Sickle star from the service line with 12 straight points including four aces. The Vikings scored three straight, two on Duck errors, but it was not enough as Oregon countered every point after that en route to a 25-10 win. Putaways by Willow Johnson and Page sewed up the victory.

Portland State shook off the drubbing and scoring five of the first eight points in Set 3, including two McDougald kills. Oregon turned the tables with a 6-0 run and never looked back. Van Sickle served up four more aces and Stone provided the offense as the Ducks went up 9-5. A service error stopped Oregon momentarily, but the team soon led by seven at 15-8 after two aces by August Raskie. Mullen, Webb and Turner tried to keep the Vikings in the game, pulling PSU within five at 16-11, but that is as close at they would get. Oregon capped the win with a 9-2 run. Five different players posted kills, with Page, Raskie and Stone closing out the night.

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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