Six days after posting arguably their best win of the season, a 3-0 upset of then No. 7 Washington, the No. 18 Oregon volleyball team suffered their worst loss. Utah, which was only 3-10 in Pac-12 play entering the match, beat the Ducks 13-25, 25-22, 28-26, 17-25, 15-8 Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
Oregon fell to 14-7 (7-6 Pac-12) in defeat, while the Utes improved to 9-14 (4-10) with the victory.
While numerous Ducks mistakes played a big role in the loss (the Ducks committed 11 serving and 35 hitting errors), Utah’s blockers stifled Oregon’s attack all night. The Utes outblocked the Ducks 18-6, and prevented Oregon from sustaining its offensive rhythm over multiple sets.
Kat Fischer (18 kills, .200 hitting percentage), Alaina Bergsma (17, .078), Liz Brenner (10, .263), and Ariana Williams (10, .160) led Oregon, while Chelsey Schofield (11, .082), Shelby Dalton (10, .250), and Erin Redd (19, .200) were key contributors for the Utes.
Oregon will return to action at 1:00 p.m. Sunday when they host the University of Colorado.