The receiving pass from the Beavers went wide.
So far wide, that Hannah Pukis had to run into the courtside seats to continue the rally. A rally that ended in Oregon’s favor. A rally that extended the Ducks’ 7-0 scoring run to start the second set.
The first game at Matthew Knight Arena in the 2023 season was a fun one. The start of Pac-12 play against our in-state rivals, Oregon State during the weekend before fall term starts and No. 6 Oregon volleyball put on an hour-and-a-half show as they swept the Beavers.
Everyone gets jitters, especially when they’re on their home floor in front of a packed crowd for the first time this season and that’s exactly what happened with the Ducks in the first set. It makes sense to have nerves when the largest crowd in Matthew Knight Arena history was in attendance tonight.
“It’s great to be home,” head coach Matt Ulmer said. “I think our group felt a little shell-shocked by the crowd at first, but it’s always great to feel the love.”
“Yeah we did,” Kara McGhee said while laughing in response to Ulmer.
Oregon State didn’t score its first genuine point until 3-3. All of the Beavers’ points were from Oregon errors. With 13 ties and six lead changes, it stayed oddly close until the end.
Out of the Beavers’ 20 points, only six of them were true points against the Ducks’ defense.
In the middle of the set, OSU went on a 3-0 run just from the Ducks’ mistakes. The only reason why the entire set remained close was because of the Ducks’ mistakes.
But do you remember everything I’ve been saying about Pukis behind the service line? Well, her final two serves of the set gave Oregon a 1-0 lead.
Those nerves went away as soon as the teams switched sides of the court. An 8-1 scoring run from the Ducks to start the set gave Oregon a big enough cushion that they could cruise to match point.
“I think there are teams with stars, and there are teams that have the right pieces,” Ulmer said. “I want us to be a team with both and I think that showed tonight. If that isn’t us, I would be really disappointed.”
At the media timeout, Oregon had a 10-point lead and the Beavers never got any closer, despite OSU deflecting two match points. But, a McGhee kill pushed the Ducks ahead to 2-0.
That same energy carried into the third. Even though the start wasn’t the same, they still won the final set by 10 to sweep the Beavers.
“We are missing Brooke [Nuneviller], which was a huge energy piece for us,” Pukis said. “So we are recovering from that but I don’t feel like it’s going to be a problem.”
The Ducks will fly to Los Angeles this weekend for a quick trip to face UCLA before a two-game home stand. The first serve is scheduled at 2 p.m. and will be available to watch on Pac-12 networks.
