Matthew Knight Arena was vibrant on Thursday night as NCAA Tournament volleyball was once again in Eugene.
Fourth-seeded Oregon (23-7, 14-6 Big Ten) made it through the first round with ease, sweeping High Point, 25-14, 25-17, 25-21.
Oregon is hosting a regional for the third consecutive season. In the previous two years, the Ducks have advanced to the Elite Eight. Meanwhile, the Panthers (23-7, 13-1 Big South) made the tournament for the fourth time in five seasons.
“I thought they fought really hard,” head coach Matt Ulmer said of High Point. “Definitely gave us a good challenge in the first round and we definitely had to respond multiple times to them.”
Michelle Ohwobete started the tournament with two consecutive service aces for the Ducks. Oregon started 4-1 which High Point quickly responded to with a 3-0 run of its own.
The Panthers stayed within striking distance for much of the beginning of Set 1 — but a dominant 6-0 Ducks’ run changed that.
Ohwobete tallied a total of three aces in the first set while Onye Ofoegbu starred with six kills on six attacks. Colby Neal was credited on all four of Oregon’s Set 1 blocks.
“[Onye’s] so good that it’s just so easy to set her as long as the ball is high. She jumps so high,” setter Cristin Cline said. “She’s hitting everything. She’s aggressive. When she’s on, she’s on.”
High Point briefly took its first advantage of the match in Set 2 when it led 10-8. A couple of attack errors gave the favor right back to the Ducks.
The Panthers stayed closer in Set 2 due to Oregon having a less efficient hitting percentage. The Ducks still had the edge in just about every statistic to come within one set of the second round.
Nine unanswered Oregon points were the difference in Set 3. High Point showed grit as it tried to battle with the Ducks two points away from the match. An attack error from the visiting side, however, decided the match in three.
“I thought we did a lot of nice things the first two sets, and then we really backed off,” Ulmer said. “We’ve had the tendency to do that this year and that’s when some of those reverse sweeps have happened or we’ve lost in five.”
Ofoegbu finished with 12 kills on .750 percent hitting to lead all players. Oregon held the Panthers under .200 percent in the match.
The Ducks will return to Matthew Knight Arena on Friday to face off against fifth-seeded TCU (22-7, 13-5 Big 12). The second-round match is set to begin at 6 p.m.
“Melanie Parra is one of the best outsides in the country. She just does so many things well for [TCU],” Ulmer said. “I sure think our schedules prepared us for tough matchups.”
