The 15th-seeded Oregon Ducks volleyball team will host the New Mexico State Aggies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at 7. The Ducks earn their first hosting bid since 2014, but have been in the tournament for eight consecutive seasons.
Here’s how things matchup for the first two rounds:
Oregon
The Ducks enter the postseason having finished tied for second with USC, their best Pac-12 finish since 2012.
Lindsey Vander Weide and junior Ronika Stone were named to the All-Pac-12 team. Vander Weide finished her regular season 3.97 points per set, 3.45 kills per set and 2.98 digs per set, all career bests for the senior. Stone hit .337 through the season, while collecting 3.02 kills and 1.20 blocks per set — also all career bests. Freshman Brooke Nuneviller, senior August Raskie and junior Willow Johnson received all-Pac-12 honorable mentions.
Nuneviller landed on the Pac-12 All-freshman team after finishing second in the Pac-12 with 4.99 digs per set. She also had 5.26 digs per set during conference play.
New Mexico State
The Aggies finished second in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). New Mexico State, despite a second-place finish in regular season play, won the WAC Tournament for the first time since 2015.
The Aggies bring a trio of all-conference honorees to Eugene.
Outside hitter Savannah Davison became the fifth-straight freshman to the all-freshman team. Davison averaged 3.08 kills per set during conference play, which puts her eighth in the WAC and averaged 3.40 points per set which put her tenth in the conference.
Outside hitter Tatyana Battle and middle blocker Megan Hart were named to All-WAC first team. Battle ranked fourth in the conference for kills (3.62) and points (4.11) while finishing 10th in digs (3.11). Hart averaged a .387 hitting percentage during conference, which was second in the WAC and also averaged 1.12 blocks for seventh in the league.
New Mexico State will play its fourth Pac-12 opponent when it faces Oregon on Thursday. The Aggies played Arizona, splitting the series, and lost to Arizona State on the road.
The Matchup
Oregon is no stranger to big matchups under the bright lights this year, highlighted by a win against the then No. 1 Minnesota Gophers. Oregon has played 14 top-25 matches this season, going 7-7.
Oregon’s home record was 9-5, while it went 10-3 on the road.
“Hopefully we can bring the same competitiveness that we bring on the road to our home crowd,” Stone said.
Stone and Lauren Page will have to be big for Oregon on the block against Davison and Battle to contain the two outside hitters.
Oregon’s offense will be another key to advance to the second round of play. Its offense has gone through highs, lows and has been plagued with inconsistency this season. When its offense is at a high, Oregon has as many as six or seven hitters reach near double-digit kills for the offense. When the offense goes flat, the Ducks solely rely on Vander Weide.
New Mexico State’s 6-foot-5 Megan Hart has been described as “goofy-footed,” and provides a difficult opponent for Oregon’s attackers.
“[Goofy-footed] means the opposite of how everyone else approaches,” Vander Weide said. “Everyone goes left-right-left and her approach is right-left-right. You never see that, so it’s going to be weird to defend against her, and we’re just going to have to get used to it.”
Oregon’s seniors will get one last weekend at a home to redeem themselves from a lackluster performance against Colorado on senior night that left poor taste in their mouths.
Follow Gabe on Twitter @gabe_ornelas
