The key to success in volleyball is being at the right place at the right time. In sports, there’s a common philosophy that defense wins games, and for volleyball, it couldn’t be more true.
Right from the start, Oregon covered every spot on the floor. Whether they had to dive across the court and sacrifice their bodies or just simply anticipating and tracking the ball, the Ducks forced long, scrappy rallies that wore out Utah.
Once the Utes showed any signs of tiredness, the Ducks mixed up their arsenal of heavy-swinging kills with dumps and touches to get on the board. Not allowing Utah (9-14, 4-9 Pac-12) to get into a rhythm allowed No. 7 Oregon (20-4, 10-3 Pac-12) to walk away with a sweep.
“We made a lot of really good reads,” head coach Matt Ulmer said. “Our defense was beautiful.”
With the wall of middle blockers that Oregon has, Utah played a short game — something the Ducks haven’t seen in a long time. But, its ability to adapt and work out of system gave Oregon an advantage, even though it’s a different style of play compared to other teams in the conference.
Serves were an issue for both teams in the first set. A combined seven service errors and Utah’s six aces — compared to Oregon’s one — kept the first competition close. A cycle of back-and-forth points as the set was winding down could’ve gone either way, but a net violation committed by Utah and a massive Kara McGhee-Mimi Colyer block gave the Ducks game one.
“Utah served really aggressively,” Ulmer said. “They kept us on our heels and it got to us.”
In the five minutes between sets, the team switched to a two-person serve-receive and something sparked. It started with a 5-0 scoring run that showed the mighty Oregon wall with three blocks. After the teams returned from a timeout that Utah called, it was extended to eight.
Utah put itself back in the game with its own little scoring run and eventually cut the deficit to one at 12-11 before the Ducks called for a timeout.
To give itself a comfortable lead, Oregon just swung hard. The short game stopped in the latter half of the set and the various hitters were given the ability to showcase their power. In the second set alone, the Ducks hit for .257 while the Utes were held to .164. Morgan Lewis led both teams with seven kills, with Gabby Gonzales and McGhee tied for second with six.
“I think my strengths show in the type of defense they play,” Lewis said.
But, the Utes didn’t let the kills get to them. They took their fourth lead at 19-17 after going on a 3-0 scoring run that included another ace, making their total nine up to that point. The Ducks came back to tie it at 24 all after their own 3-0 run, and eventually came back to win it in extras at 29-27 after saving four set points.
“I want to make sure our intensity is there,” Ulmer said. “If it is, then we will get to where we need to be.”
Oregon opened up the following set the same way — with a 5-0 scoring run. Then, scored another consecutive three points before the Utes called timeout. When the Ducks arrived at the halfway point at 15, Utah had only managed to score six points.
A Ute service error and an ace by Gabby Gonzales extended Oregon’s lead to 10. By the time the set ended, the closet Utah was able to get was 25-12.
Oregon will finish out this home weekend against Colorado on Sunday at 12 pm before a crucial two-week road trip against ranked opponents.
“We are going to have to pass better than we did tonight,” Ulmer said. “Colorado’s block is big, and we need to have an attack mindset to do well against them.”
