“Pretty fun week if you’re a Duck fan,” was how head coach Matt Ulmer opened his post-match press conference. 

Sweeps aren’t always the reality, however, and No. 11 Oregon learned that the hard way. Oregon fought its way back from a 2-1 set deficit to claim a five-set victory against No. 24 Washington (25-19, 22-25, 19-25, 25-21, 15-12). 

The Ducks (13-2, 5-1 BIG) came off a nail-biting sweep of the No. 16 USC Trojans and took that impressive momentum into Matthew Knight Arena Sunday afternoon into another ranked matchup with the Huskies (13-3, 3-3 BIG). 

The Ducks started the first set slow and looked out of the game mentally. Oregon failed to convert on an offensive play until its fourth point, which was a Michelle Ohwobete kill — her first of 12 in the afternoon.  

The Ducks’ main issue was the inability to consistently break through Washington’s block, as many point blank hits couldn’t find their way behind the ever-present Husky arms. 

Mimi Colyer, the star for the Ducks, managed to get herself in the match early, and she finished with a dominant 25 kills — which led all players. 

“I was going up and staying aggressive. [Cristin Cline] did a great job of keeping me high, so I could see everything, and I could see the court, see the defense and be aggressive,” Colyer said. 

After a 17-16 Husky lead, Oregon took a 5-1 run into a commanding lead that it wouldn’t give up.

The Ducks failed to keep that momentum going in the ensuing set, especially towards the beginning. Washington’s offense dominated, as Oregon’s front line was exposed and the Husky front three found no trouble exploiting gaps.

As the set went on, the Ducks lost more and more control of the game, and they endured a 7-2 run to go down 16-9. 

After a big Washington run, the Ducks went on a 5-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 4. It just wouldn’t be enough in the set, and the Huskies fought off a few late Oregon runs to even the match at one set apiece with a 25-22 win. 

The Ducks began set three flat-footed as well. There was little communication, which hurt Oregon on both sides of the ball.

“I feel like [Colyer] was carrying us for the first two sets. I thought the connection between [Cline] and a few hitters tonight was not great, and part of that is they are a tough serving team, and that’s how matches are gonna go against a team serving like that,” Ulmer said. 

Washington jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the third set, but Oregon had something up its sleeve. 

Led by the brilliance and athleticism of Michelle Ohwobete, the Ducks strung together a 9-1 run in the middle of the set to cut the score to 14-13. After a Washington timeout, the Huskies found their footing once again to try and make sure the Ducks couldn’t storm all the way back. 

Oregon’s early deficit in the third set became too much to overcome, and the Ducks never led in the set after Washington started its run of excellence. The Huskies’ main point of success stemmed from their ability to find the gaps on the floor and force the Ducks to try and make tough defensive plays. 

“We’ve been one of the best blocking teams in the country, and even though we blocked 13 balls, I thought we blocked very poorly, our block was all over, we were reaching, not very disciplined. That makes it really hard on the floor defense,” Ulmer said. 

Washington took the set 25-19 and controlled all the momentum going into the fourth set. 

“We were very much out of rhythm for the first three sets, and it felt like forever to turn the bus around,” Ulmer said. “It was a real slow turn, but credit to our group for getting it together.”

Oregon finally built some momentum during the fourth set, as it put together a 5-1 run to take an 11-9 lead, which the Ducks did not give up throughout the rest of the set. 

The Ducks rode their impressive stretch of play in the fourth set to a 25-21 set win to tie the match at two and send it to a fifth and final set for all the marbles. 

Washington found its offense, which the Ducks started to have a hard time dealing with once again. The Huskies jumped out to a 9-2 run, which was good for a 9-5 lead early in the final set. 

Oregon tied it up at 12 after a 3-0 scoring run, which built to six and a 15-12 set win for the Ducks. The rally in the fifth set capped off what was an emotionally draining win for the Ducks, who now have won two-straight ranked matchups. 

The Ducks go on another road trip to take on No. 9 Wisconsin in Madison this Friday at 5:00 p.m. PST.