The Oregon volleyball team defeated the Cal Bears 3-0 in Matthew Knight Arena on Friday. The Ducks extended their winning streak to four and improved their overall record to 11-3.

The first set established the tone of the match with a back-and-forth flow as both sides traded kills. Oregon surged to its first lead on a 5-0 run led by Karson Bacon. Bacon came through with a ferocious slam set up by Morgan Lewis, giving the Ducks a 10-6 lead. 

Oregon continued to build up its lead as the first set progressed. Brooke Nuneviller was dominant early on as she led another 4-0 surge with her impressive serves catching the Bears off guard. The Ducks took a commanding 17-8 lead

After expanding their lead to nine the Ducks did not look back. Elise Ferriera set up Nuneviller who slammed the ball across the face of the Bears blockers for the kill. Oregon took the first set 25-17. 

The Bears took a 2-0 lead to start the second set, but the Ducks answered right back and went on a decisive run. The surge was kickstarted with Bacon’s fourth kill of the game, followed by a service ace from Taylor Borup giving the Ducks a 12-4 lead.

Cal responded with two points before Nuneviller delivered back-to-back kills, forcing the Bears to burn a timeout. The break was helpful for the Bears, as Lydia Grote answered Nuneviller’s kills with a back-to-back of her own. 

The Bears rode that momentum through the middle of the second set. Grote added two more kills cutting the lead to four, 17-13 Ducks.

Oregon was not phased by Cal’s mid-set charge as they went on to close out the second set. Kills from Borup and Lewis were the difference as Oregon took the second set 25-17. 

In the third set, the Bears would not go down without a fight. Oregon shot out to a 5-2 lead, which was quickly answered with kills from Grote and Katarina Pantovic to tie the set at five. 

The Ducks answered with a 4-0 run of their own, highlighted by another impressive kill from Nuneviller. However, the Bears came right back and took their first lead of the match. An error from Kylie Robinson gave Cal a 12-11 lead. 

Both sides traded leads, but the Bears’ mistakes started to hurt them as back-to-back attack errors capped a 4-0 run for the Ducks, giving them a 19-15 lead.

Oregon did not look back from there. They ended the match on a 5-0 run that started with two kills from Abby Hansen and a game-ending kill from Nuneviller. The Ducks took the third set 25-17.

Oregon won in impressive fashion, taking all three sets by the same score of 25-17. Nuneviller and Lewis led the team with eight kills each. Grote led all players with 13 kills but that was not enough to take down the Ducks. 

The Ducks improve to 12-3. Their next match is against the Bears in Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday, March 28 at noon.