When head coach Matt Ulmer accepted the Rainbow Wahine Classic invite, he did it with a purpose – to face adversity.
Knowing that they would be facing a strong volleyball team in their home stadium and coming off a ranked win against No. 13 San Diego, it wasn’t going to be easy. With some calls not falling in Oregon’s favor and a slow start hitting-wise, Oregon still walked away from the Rainbow Wahine Classic without losing a set after finishing it off with a 3-0 win over the host, Hawai’i.
To start the game, Oregon remained in control but three straight points from Hawai’i, including two kills from outside hitter Caylen Alexander, and a net error from Oregon gave the Rainbow Wahine the lead.
Both teams continued to exchange points as the set went on, but Hawaii went on a 6-1 run that consisted of a lot of Oregon hitting errors. At this point in the set, the Ducks were held to a .091 hitting percentage, one of their lowest this season.
While the momentum belonged to Hawai’i, Oregon stayed close, not letting their lead get past three. The Ducks were able to put together a scoring run towards the end, tying the game up at 18 all, and the rest of the set was back-and-forth points. But, Oregon was able to break the cycle and go on a 5-1 scoring run to take a 1-0 lead.
The theme of set two was trading points. It started off similarly to the first set where the Ducks were in control, but it stayed close. Oregon broke the cycle by taking an early two-point lead, but Hawai’i came right back in it.
Since Hannah Pukis arrived in Eugene last season, there were points throughout the season where the Ducks would string together long scoring runs when she was behind the service line. Pukis gave us a bit of deja vu when she led Oregon to four straight points to build a comfortable lead before the Rainbow Wahine called a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Hawai’i cut the deficit to two, and the theme of back-and-forth points stayed relevant. As the set was coming to an end, Hawai’i called another timeout as the Ducks started to break up the rhythm of the game and go on a scoring run. The Rainbow Wahine defended off a match point, but a Hawai’i return error gave Oregon a 2-0 lead.
Out of all of the teams Oregon faced during this classic, Hawai’i gave them the most trouble. But, in the third set, the Ducks started to look like the team over the past two days who played with a breeze. With a 10-5 lead, they had five kills and finished the set with a .452 kill percentage.
With Pukis behind the line once more, Oregon scored four straight points before Hawai’i called a timeout. They weren’t able to ice the Ducks as they extended their lead to seven, the largest of the night, before they called their second one of the set.
Oregon walked away with set three with a 10-point lead for an undefeated opening weekend.
The Ducks will head to California for the San Diego State Invitational for the halfway point of preseason. Their first game will be on August 31 against the host with first serve scheduled at 6:30 pm PT.
