The No. 24 Oregon women’s volleyball team looked to get things back on track against the No. 18 Utah Utes on Sunday afternoon after winning just one of their last four matches.
The Utes got the scoring underway early, but the Ducks managed to keep it close throughout the first set. With Oregon leading 9-7, a kill by Brooke Nuneviller put the Ducks up by three points which spurred a timeout by Utah head coach Beth Launiere. With her eighth kill in the game, senior middle blocker Ronika Stone gave the Ducks a first set victory, 25-20.
To start the second set, Oregon took a commanding 21-15 lead after redshirt freshman Karson Bacon secured her fourth kill of the match. Later, the Ducks won the second set off a Ute error.
The Ducks jumped to an early 5-2 lead in the third set after another kill from Stone. Utah managed to cut the lead to one less than halfway through the set.The Utes used a seven point run to get a 18-14 lead.
A kill by Bacon curbed the Utah momentum and brought the Ducks within three points. In a hotly contested third set, Utah managed to escape with a 25-23 win.
Oregon led in the beginning of the fourth set before Utah tied it and scored six straight to take a 18-12 lead. Utah won the fourth set 25-21 and tied the match at two sets apiece. In matches that are decided with a fifth set, Oregon has had one win in three matches this season.
In an exciting final set, Oregon snatched the victory from Utah by a score of 15-13. Oregon stays undefeated at home with an overall record of 5-6. The Ducks will continue Pac-12 play against the Stanford Cardinal on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
