The Oregon Ducks defeated No. 21 Illinois in three sets Friday night in their first game of the Nike Invitational.
Oregon (5-2) began set one on a 12-1 run to set the tone for the set. Despite the Illini playing fairly evenly the rest of the set, the hole dug by Illinois was too big to climb out of and the Ducks cruised to the 25-10 set win.
Set two was much tighter between the two teams. Neither team could grab a lead larger than three until Oregon took a 19-15 lead. The Ducks eventually pushed their lead to seven for the 25-18 set win. Both teams tied 11 times in the set and exchanged the lead four times.
“They’re a really good blocking team,” head coach Jim Moore said.  “The hitters were smart tonight. They didn’t make silly plays.”
In the third set, riding a 2-0 overall advantage, Oregon found itself tied at 5-5. The Ducks then went on a 7-0 run to take control of the match and seal the 3-0 match victory.
Lindsey Vander Weide led the match with 11 kills while hitting 45 percent. Taylor Agost added 10 more kills and Ronika Stone led the team with four blocks.
Oregon’s second game in the Nike Invitational is set for Saturday against Belmont at 3 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter @zlast3445