After cruising through the first two sets, the No. 18 Oregon (7-3, 1-0 Pac-12) volleyball team seemed to have the third, and potential final, set in control with a 21-18 lead.
As with any rivalry, the match is never over till it’s over. Oregon State (2-9, 0-1 Pac-12) rallied to tie the game at 21-all before going on to win 32-30 in a thrilling set.
The Ducks responded, jumping out to an 11-6 lead in the fourth set before finishing off the Beavers 25-16 and earning the 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 30-32 and 25-16) win.
Lindsey Vander Weide had a quite the Pac-12 debut for Oregon.
The freshman finished with a career and match-high 25 kills while adding a career-high 16 digs. She started the match with 12 kills on her first 12 attacks, resulting in a 1.000 hitting percentage halfway through the second set.
Sophomore Maggie Scott was Oregon’s rock at the setter position. She notched 57 assists on the night to go along with 11 digs and seven kills.
Taylor Agost, Martenne Bettendorf and Kacey Nady all had big matches for the Ducks as well. Agost was second on the team with 13 kills while Nady and Bettendorf added 12 and nine kills, respectively.
The third set proved to be the most thrilling as neither team was able to pull away for the win until the very end. Each team possessed a one-point lead at multiple times throughout the set but saw their opponent rally back each time.
Oregon travels to Tucson, Ariz for a match with No. 14 Arizona at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 27. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka