Oregon volleyball fell to 2-2 on Friday after being swept by the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Brooke Nuneviller paced the Ducks with 12 kills. This was the first game in the Pac-12/Big Ten series and was also a rematch of last year’s NCAA Sweet Sixteen tournament game, which the Ducks won.
Oregon entered the game ranked No. 10 in the nation, but did not have an answer against No. 8 Minnesota. The Ducks have endured injury trouble during their road trip, All-American Willow Johnson did not play in the match. Senior Taylor Borup also did not participate. This forced Oregon to rely on six true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen players.
The first set was highly contested with Oregon scoring nine points in 10 rallies to take an 11-7 lead. However, the Gophers responded with nine points in a row to control the rest of the set, winning 25-23.
Minnesota used an explosive 6-1 run in the second set to win the set 25-18 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. Oregon was able to close the gap to 18-15 but Minnesota scored on seven of the last 10 points to win the second set.
In the third set, Minnesota used an 11-1 run to build a 14-6 lead. The Ducks had a late rally scoring six points in a row but ultimately lost the set 25-19.
Oregon will have a chance to avenge its loss in the second game of the Pac-12/Big-10 challenge as they take on the vaunted No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday.
