When was the last time that you saw a head coach sing the National Anthem?

What about on Senior Night? Against a ranked opponent as the seeding for the NCAA tournament is right around the corner. Only Oregon head coach Matt Ulmer would promise to kickoff the game by singing in front of a 3,497-person crowd if fans broke the season-ticket holder record this season. 

“I thought the team would heckle me and they didn’t, so that’s a win,” Ulmer said while laughing. “Two of them even told me ‘good job’ and they don’t like to give me compliments.” 

The excitement and energy from seeing your head coach showed on the court. On Senior Night, No. 6 Oregon (25-5, 15-5 Pac-12) beat No. 24 USC (18-12, 12-8 Pac-12) 3-1 (25-14, 24-26, 25-16, 25-22).

Right from the start, USC had a variety of kill placements, forcing Oregon’s defense to cover every spot on the floor as four of its first five points came from kills. Between the ability of having different kills and Oregon’s service errors, the Ducks were forced to play from behind until a lift error from the Trojans tied the match. 

Oregon’s short game with tips and dumps gave the Ducks their first lead of the match. An ace from Hannah Pukis forced USC to call a timeout, as it has been notoriously known that she can put together scoring runs from behind the service line. 

Returning from timeout, Pukis delivered another ace, extending the scoring run to 6-0. The Trojans were forced to call another timeout as the Ducks pushed the run to 12 without any interruptions. USC struggled with Oregon’s attack strategy, both on powerful kills or short, soft taps over the net with a .346 set hitting percentage compared to USC’s .026. The scoring streak eventually ended at 13-0, but Oregon’s defense would hold the Trojans to 14 points as it took set one. 

“You can have a game plan, but to execute it with the ball in your hand and to do it 13 times in a row,” Ulmer said. “That’s impressive.”

The second set started in a similar way. Each team would rotate points with kills and errors until the Ducks found their rhythm offensively. Just like the first one, a service ace — this time by Gabby Gonzales — forced USC to call a timeout in the middle of Oregon’s scoring run. But this time, USC kept it close. With an ace and three straight attack errors from the Ducks, the Trojans took the lead at 14-13. 

Both teams stayed in a scoring cycle until the Trojans took a two point lead at 18-16 and Oregon called a timeout. When both teams returned to the court, the Ducks played from behind until they tied it at 22. From that point, kills were exchanged until a net violation cost Oregon the second set. 

From the start, the third set had a different tone. It had a revenge feel to it. It started with an ace from Gonzales and had five kills from Mimi Colyer and Morgan Lewis combined before USC called a timeout.

After the Ducks lost a challenge call, the Women of Troy cut the deficit to one thanks to the serves from setter Mia Tuaniga. Oregon started to build a cushion to its lead, but it wasn’t too comfortable. 

Until it was.
A 3-0 scoring run forced a USC timeout and immediately after, Daley McClellan served an ace, the team’s sixth of the night. Colyer followed it up with one of her own to extend the lead to eight. 

Kara McGhee, the block leader for both teams after the third set with six , gave Oregon a 2-1 lead after having back-to-back kills.

Before anyone knew it, the Ducks had a 7-2 lead before the Trojans called their sixth timeout of the match. Oregon flashed a little deja vu because once again, McClellan had another ace once the teams returned to the floor. 

After McClellan’s ace, the Ducks had two more, making the team total 11. Paired with kills from team-leader Lewis with 19 and Colyer and Gonzales behind her with a combined 20, the Trojans struggled to capitalize on any momentum they tried to build. 
“It’s really exciting to have my entire family here and have them support me in that. It’s really fun performing well in front of everyone,” Lewis said. 

Since winning the second set 26-24, USC hadn’t had a lead until it went up 21-20 in the fourth set. But, that quickly disappeared and it was too late to recover before Oregon won the game 3-1. 

“This was a tough turnaround for us since we were in Tucson on Sunday,” Ulmer said. “Senior Night is always emotionally tiring so I’m proud of this group and what they were able to do.”