While you were eating too much food and slipping into a tryptophan-induced coma, Oregon athletics stayed busy competing. Here’s a quick recap of how the Ducks did over Thanksgiving break.
Volleyball ends year strong. Following Oregon’s stunning sweep of No. 5 UCLA, the No. 6 Ducks traveled to Corvallis. Just like Oregon football, volleyball finished its regular season playing in the Civil War. For the second time this year, the Ducks got the better of the Beavers in three straight sets.
Oregon senior outside hitter Katherine Fischer paved the way for the Ducks with a career-high hitting mark of .652. Fellow senior Alaina Bergsma added 11 kills and three blocks.
The win gave Oregon its best-ever second-place finish in the conference and subsequently gave them home-court advantage in the impending NCAA Tournament. With a No. 5 seed in the tournament, Oregon will look to improve on last year’s disappointing first-round exit.
Hard times for hardcourt women. Paul Westhead’s squad is off to a rough start. After losing to No. 13 Oklahoma 100-61 Saturday, the Ducks fell to 0-4 overall. The team is competing in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Honolulu, Hawaii, but the pretty scenery didn’t boost Oregon’s play. The loss came on the heels of an 85-73 loss to University of Hawaii the day before.
Despite the losses, Oregon is seeing huge returns from freshman Jillian Alleyne. The freshman from Fontana, Calif., who smashed school and conference rebounding records in the Ducks’ loss to Portland State earlier this year, posted another 23 boards in Oregon’s loss to Oklahoma.
The Ducks will struggle forward without the play of leading scorer Lexi Petersen. The sophomore guard tore knee ligaments earlier this year and will miss the remainder of the season.
On the other hand… The Oregon mens’ team is performing above early expectations. Competing in the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas over the weekend, the Ducks shocked No. 18 UNLV 83-79 in the semifinals.
The win snapped the Rebels’ 20-game home win streak and was keyed by remarkable contributions from Oregon’s younger players. True freshman Damyean Dotson dropped a season-high 19 points — four in the last 19 seconds — while fellow frosh Dominic Artis added another 11.
Oregon moved onto the finals of the GSC on Saturday to play Cincinnati. This one didn’t go the Ducks’ way. Arsalan Kazemi was a point shy of a double-double (nine points, 15 rebounds), but the Bearcats held off a late Oregon run to give the Ducks their first loss of the season. Next up for Oregon is a four-game homestand. Texas-San Antonio, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Idaho State and Nebraska all travel to Eugene in the first half of December.