Facing a nationally ranked team for the first time this year, the No. 11 Oregon Ducks fell flat against the No. 4 Florida Gators. It was their first game of the Vert Challenge in Austin, Texas.
The Ducks were outplayed by the Gators in the straight-set loss by scores of 18-25, 19-25 and 20-25.
Oregon dug themselves into deep holes at the start of each set that they were unable to climb out of. After falling behind 7-1 in the first set, 6-2 in the second set and 4-1 in the third set, the Ducks didn’t have enough firepower or defensive prowess to get pull out the wins.
Florida got a dominate performance from its two middles Rhamat Alhassan and Simone Antwi. The middles combined for 24 kills and did a good job of controlling the game at the net. Not only did they cause Oregon troubles on offense, defensively they controlled the middle of the net, forcing Oregon to the outside and allowing their team defense to be set up.
Taylor Agost was one of the bright spots for the Duck as she had a team-high 12 kills while Martenne Bettendorf added nine kills and a .409 hitting percentage.
Amanda Benson was solid again as the libero as she notched 14 digs in the match.
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