After suffering back-to-back losses against Texas and Florida last week, the Oregon Ducks (2-2) rebounded for a pair of victories Friday against the Murray State Racers and the San Diego State Aztecs, both in three sets. The match-ups were part of the Oregon Classic also includes UC Davis.
Earlier Friday, Oregon defeated Murray State 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-14) for their first win of the season. Taylor Agost led the team with 12 kills. Sumeet Gill and Lauren Page each added seven kills in the victory.
In the evening match-up, the Aztecs took a 4-2 lead in the first set but Oregon went on a 15-point streak to take control of the match. The Ducks won set one easily, 25-10.
“We need to slow teams down,” Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “We did a really good job of that coming out of the gate.”
Oregon won the second set 25-12. The Ducks took control of the set early and controlled it throughout. Oregon took control again in the third set. Jumping out to a 6-1 lead. But the Aztecs fought back to tie the set at six. Oregon responded with a 14-5 run to make it 20-11. The Aztecs would not go away, responding with an 9-4 run, to make it 24-20 but Oregon answered back with a big game-winning point to take the set and the match.
“We’ve definitely been working on our chemistry,” Freshman Ronika Stone said. “No team will be able to block us soon enough.”
Gill and Van Sickle led against the Aztecs with eight kills each. Maggie Scott led the Ducks with 18 assists, while Amanda Benson had 14 digs in the match.
The Oregon Classic concludes tomorrow with San Diego State vs. Murray State at 3:30 p.m. followed by Oregon taking on UC Davis at 6 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter @zlast3445