If one only looked at the first 30 points of each set, it would look like Oregon volleyball (4-0) was dominated. 

Which makes it even more surprising that the Ducks came out of Wednesday evening’s match against the University of Portland Pilots (3-1) with a sweep. The Ducks were led by the strong swings of Valentina Vaulet and Alanah Clemente once again, as they finished with 11 and eight kills, respectively. 

“We can be so much better than we are now, we have to improve on the defensive side of the ball,” Kersten said. “We’re going to work our tails off to get where we need to go and prepare for the Big Ten.”

The Ducks came into their home opener off of three wins in the first three matches of the season, all taking place at the EVEN Hotel Bobcat Invite in Bozeman, MT. The Pilots also emerged victorious in their first three matches. 

Portland immediately went on a 5-0 run going into Oregon’s first timeout, which coach Kersten used to bolster the middle of his defense more. Portland’s offense remained unphased. The Pilots’ fast offense stifled any control Oregon tried to take over the game. 

The middle became a problem for Oregon, as the smaller group failed to hold up any attacks at the net, which hurt the back line’s ability to dig balls. As soon as they started blocking with more consistency, the Ducks took an 6-0 run to a 18-16 lead in the first. 

Freshman opposite Clemente quickly became the focal point of Oregon’s attack. Aided by the strong swing of Vaulet, Oregon saw itself in control of the first set as each team began reaching the 20’s in scoring. 

“It was like lighting the fire,” setter Kamden Mitchell said about her teammates. “It’s the biggest setter ‘yes!’ when I can feed them the ball and they just crush it. I know I set (Vaulet) well when I get that tap on the shoulder.”

Mitchell finished with a team-high 20 assists, which was followed by Cora Taylor’s 14.

During the latter part of the first, the Pilots’ sideout percentage dropped from 85% to 56%, which also fueled the Ducks comeback in the set. Oregon took home the opening set 25-21.

“We started digging some balls and forcing them to take multiple attempts,” Kersten said. “We were set up with a plan that put us in a lot of correct positions and just couldn’t quite finish the play.”

Oregon was able to take that momentum and gain control of the beginning of the second as well. 

But its middle block failed to contain that when not serving. The addition of freshman Holly McFadden proved crucial because she added height to a relatively smaller middle block, as well as her 5.5 points off the bench. 

“(McFadden) works her tail off,” Kersten said. “She has had an impact on the court for us in a couple matches, she got eight stops in our match against Montana State and had a couple big ones at the end to help us. She’s so physical at the net, just working on blocking a bit better.”

The Ducks took a 4-0 run into a timeout midway through the second, which included astute serving from Vaulet. 

“(Vaulet)’s been an elite server in the Big Ten…it’s very fun to watch,” Kersten said. 

After a short Portland run, Oregon fed Vaulet, who quickly ended that with a missile into the Pilots’ defense. Then, it was Clemente’s turn to serve, where she added all but one of the Ducks’ last five points in the set. 

Oregon won the second set 25-20 and took a 2-0 lead behind Vaulet’s nine kills to that point. 

The Ducks found difficulty once again shoring up the defense, and fell behind in the third set 7-4 after two straight blocking errors. Clemente helped the Ducks back into the set with a thunderbolt from the right side, and they continued the fight. 

Oregon finally took its first lead in the third 15-14, but Portland continued its fight and kept the back-and-forth going. 

Clemente stepped up to serve up 18-17 in the third, and the Ducks hoped to use that to ice the Pilots. The true freshman got Oregon to 21-17 before faltering on her fourth serve of the stretch and sent it into the net. 

Tough defense from Portland kept the Pilots in the back end of the set, but Oregon would not be denied in its home opener and won the final set 25-23 to close out the sweep. 

The Ducks will face off against Colorado State University on Saturday evening as they aim to remain undefeated.