In a nationally televised showcase, the No. 3 ranked Stanford Cardinal visited Eugene to take on the No. 8 ranked Ducks.
The Cardinal (17-2, 7-2) came into this highly-anticipated matchup riding a ten game win streak with their last loss coming against arguably the best team in the country, the University of Nebraska, in the beginning of September.
The Ducks (17-4, 7-3 Pac-12) were coming off a sweep of the Cal Bears on Friday behind a 40 assist performance from Hannah Pukis in a game where they hit .406.
The first set started very back-and-forth, with Pukis taking a firm grasp of the game, controlling the Ducks’ offense.
Neither team was able to get on a real run, with unforced errors becoming a problem for both teams, but mainly Oregon. After Stanford went up 19-16, Oregon went on a 4-0 run to take the lead 20-19, highlighted by a Gabby Gonzales ace.
After a 6-4 run for the Cardinal, capped by a Mimi Colyer service error, Stanford took the first set. The Oregon defense was very strong, but its offense lacked the bite needed to firmly take hold of the set, making 5 errors and missing many blocks.
The second set was a very similar story, it just became much clearer what the Cardinal’s game plan was. They wanted to take advantage of the weaker defense in the back, where they had been targeting Georgia Murphy, who was forced to make tough plays.
They also spread out the Oregon defense very effectively by placing their serves really intricately, which forces the defense to adjust to their hitting almost immediately. This also made it harder for the Ducks to game plan and play aggressive like they wanted to because of the unpredictability of Stanford at times.
In the third set, Colyer started to find her stride and confidence through her excellent serving, which helped her increase her hitting percentage on the day to .225 after the third set. Kara McGhee also came back from a lackluster second set and regained her confidence at the net.
Stanford fought back at the end of the set, forcing Oregon to sweat much more and really focus to close out the set. Stanford had been careful to not make many mistakes and play very conservatively, until a service error to give the Ducks the set and send Matthew Knight Arena into a frenzy.
The fourth set had a dominant performance by Colyer and McGhee at the start. They were very effective at forcing Stanford to change their approach to their offense. Once it made that adjustment, however, it was very hard for the Ducks to catch up, and Stanford carried an 8-2 run to a 21-13 lead.
Oregon, behind the serving of Kate Thibault, responded with four straight points, two of them coming on aces. It ended up not being enough, as the Cardinal rattled off a 4-2 run to end what was a fierce contest.
In a contest highlighted by 10 challenges, the Ducks proved to be outmatched by a tremendous Stanford team. Behind coach Kevin Hambly, the Cardinal seemed much more confident and ready than the Ducks.
The Ducks were very aggressive all game, they just were lacking slightly in execution, which is nothing that Colyer is worried about. “That was some of the best volleyball we played as a team,” she noted after the game.
Coach Ulmer was proud of his team’s performance on Sunday, as they stuck to their game plan and played a very strong game against one of the top teams in the country. The Ducks’ aggressive approach was effective in keeping them in the game, there were just too many mistakes that prevented them from taking control of the game.
After getting swept at home last weekend against Arizona State, the performance against Stanford was a welcome sight for Ulmer. He applauded his squad for being the more aggressive of the two. “We were the anti-tentative team tonight,” Ulmer stated, “We have a lot of potential to be a great team, we just need to execute a little better.”
Pukis and the Ducks aim to bounce back this Friday in Pullman against Pukis’ former team. With their aggressive play style and mindset to grow and improve everyday, the Ducks have real potential to roll into the postseason and do some damage.
