No.16 Oregon makes its comeback against the No. 19 Washington Huskies, beating it in three straight sets at Matthew Knight Arena, on Friday night.
The last time the Ducks witnessed a three-set win against their neighbor-state rival was in 2011. For this season, the Huskies previously beat the Ducks to a packed stadium 3-2 in Seattle on Oct. 9. The Ducks ultimately struggled with the Huskies’ strong start with aggressive attacks and relentless energy. In addition, the Huskies took advantage of the Ducks’ meager serves and additional costly mistakes.
However, this time the Ducks established their dominance early and kept pushing through the third set. Tactically, the Ducks made sure to place the ball where the Huskies didn’t want to, and made it more difficult for them to run their offense.
Libero Georgia Murphy remained impenetrable on defense. One moment the ball came flying toward her side of the court and her quick dive resulted in the ball going back to the Huskies.
Mimi Colyer and Gloria Mutiri played their usual stronghold on the front of the net. Mutiri, despite suffering a couple of errors, had 11 kills on Friday.
According to head coach Matt Ulmer, setter Hannah Pukis played her best performance tonight since returning from her injury. After being out for a couple of weeks, it took a while for Pukis to rediscover her groove. However, Pukis now feels that nothing can hold her back now and she’s at her physical peak.
“It’s really neat because I’m so confident in every single hitter,” Pukis said. “I feel like I can throw from anywhere and they’re going to be up and ready. And so when we’re firing from all areas, we’re really unstoppable.”
Pukis attributed tonight’s win to the team’s energy and lively spirit before the game. It kept the momentum going throughout the game.
“I think that energy in the gym played a huge component in how we played tonight,” Pukis said. “And it’s so exciting that fans come out on a Friday night to support us. And it’s so helpful and I think winning tonight just sets the precedent to keep them coming back as well.”
Coach Ulmer attributed Friday’s win partially to Matthew Knight Arena and how special it is for the team and fans.
“Our team has just really excelled in the setting,” Ulmer said. “And we just try to hold on to those moments because they’re pretty special.
Next, the Ducks are hosting a rematch against Washington State in Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m.
