The No. 16 Oregon volleyball team (14-7, Pac-12 7-4) earned redemption against Arizona State, sweeping the Sun Devils 3-0 (25-23, 25-18 and 25-21) Friday Night in Tempe, Arizona.
The sweep marked Oregon’s ninth of the year and evened the season series against ASU (13-10, 4-7). Oregon’s win comes almost a month after the Sun Devils’ upset the Ducks in a 3-0 sweep in Eugene during Oregon’s ‘Stomp Out Cancer’ match.
Junior middle blocker Ronika Stone led the Ducks with 15 kills, with junior right side hitter Willow Johnson following with seven. Senior setter August Raskie ended the match with 31 assists and four blocks. Freshman libero Brooke Nuneviller led the team with 18 digs. Redshirt sophomore and outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle led with two aces and freshman libero Camryn Tastad recorded one as well.
Oregon quickly worked its way up to a 5-1 lead to open set one. The Sun Devils briefly tied the set at 11, but soon after used up both their timeouts when Oregon was able to jump ahead. A last-minute surge from ASU got the set within one, but the Ducks pushed through for the set victory of 25-23.
ASU began to fall apart in the second set, as the Sun Devils fell behind by as much as seven. Oregon used a 4-1 run, including three straight kills from junior middle blocker Ronika Stone, to go secure the set win of 25-18 before the match intermission.
The third and final set looked similar to the second, as Oregon used a 7-0 run to force ASU to take a timeout at 17-10. A 4-0 run from the Sun Devils was the team’s final attempt at a comeback, getting below four of the Ducks at 21-17. Oregon held on and won the set 25-23, to complete the sweep of ASU.
Oregon will conclude its Arizona road trip on Sunday at 11 a.m. against No. 23 Arizona in Tuscon. The Ducks will also look to even the season against the Wildcats, after losing 2-3 during a homestand in September.
Follow Maggie Vanoni on Twitter: @maggie_vanoni