We are less than a month away from the NCAA volleyball tournament selection show, meaning that there is less margin for error if teams want to qualify for the chance to win a National Championship.
At this time last year, Oregon volleyball was undefeated at home and in the midst of its longest regular season winning streak. Now, all three of its conference losses have happened at Matthew Knight Arena against all nationally ranked teams.
After finishing the home stand 2-2, the Ducks headed to Washington looking for a reset. Head coach Matt Ulmer hasn’t been one to focus on single wins, but his team needed to add some games to the win column if they wanted to advance even further than they did last year, or at the very least, qualify for the tournament.
With Oregon having its back against the wall, the Ducks (19-4, 9-3 Pac-12) pulled through.
“Different people stepped up at different moments,” Ulmer said after the weekend. “It meant a lot to us.”
It started with a 3-1 against No. 6 Washington State (18-4, 8-3 Pac-12), redeeming themselves from a 1-3 loss against the Cougars a few weeks ago and ended with a sweep against Washington (13-10, 4-8 Pac-12), a team the Ducks haven’t beaten in Seattle since 2018. It was the first time since 2016 that Oregon had a sweep on a Washington road weekend.
After dropping the opening set against the Cougars, Oregon quickly had a 9-0 lead in the second. With Kate Thibault behind the serving line, she led the Ducks to the final eight points in that run that had two kills and blocks by Karson Bacon.
Serves are what led the Ducks to the win against Washington State, but serves are what worried Oregon against the Huskies.
In Seattle, Oregon had 18 service errors throughout the match, one of its highest all season.
“I thought they were pulling a prank on me,” Ulmer told ESPN. “I thought it was a joke that I was not in on.”
But, the maturity of the group showed in all of those errors. Despite the high amount of errors, the team hit over .400 in each of the three sets. The Ducks showed their mental toughness by not allowing the mistakes to get in their head.
Morgan Lewis led the team with 15 kills against the Huskies, which was one of the key pieces in the match, especially when something so crucial, like serves, was not going well.
“We can’t give good teams opportunities and we did that with our serves,” Ulmer said. “Luckily we recovered well. Morgan is so consistent in her choices.”
Between the second and third match, the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee revealed its latest top-10 ranking. Oregon was written into the No. 6 slot, which is one spot higher than the first reveal of the season on Sept. 23.
“No one is as consistent as they want to be, and we are a part of that,” Ulmer said. “The teams ahead of us are just more consistent, that’s it.”
The Ducks are in a moment of transition. Since the game against Marquette back in early September, Oregon has played safe. Staying in its comfort zone and not making bold decisions, that style of play won’t work in the final rounds of the tournament. During the four-game home stand, the Ducks started to show more aggressive serves and scrappy rallies, but that comes with more errors. Despite what the stat sheet says, they’re becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Against Washington State, Oregon put itself into a playoff environment and thrived. Gabby Gonzales led all players with 13 kills and behind her was Mimi Colyer and Kara McGhee with 11 each. Hannah Pukis had her 16th double-double of the season with 43 assists and 13 digs. As a team, the Ducks had 13 blocks thanks to Bacon’s career high of 10. Against the Huskies, Oregon beat them in every statistical category.
“We need to continue to grow and learn more about ourselves and we can be a dangerous threat in the end,” Ulmer said.
