After dropping its first two matches of the season against Portland last month, the Oregon beach volleyball team earned its first win of the season against Sacramento State, defeating the Hornets 3-2.
However, soon after, the Ducks fell to Boise State by the same score, finishing the day 1-1 at the Boise State Volleyball Complex.
The Ducks’ freshmen led the team against Sacramento State on courts 1, 3 and 5. On the top court, Brooke Van Sickle and Lindsey Vander Weide took down Sacramento State’s Morgan Stanley and Madeline Cannon in three sets, two of which were closely-contested. They finished with scores of 21-17, 15-21 and 15-9.
Meanwhile, it only took two matches (21-16 and 21-15) for the third pairing of Willow Johnson and Maddy Silberger-Franek to claim their victory. Ronika Stone and Maggie Scott closed out the match, winning in three sets with scores of 11-21, 21-11 and 15-5.
Taylor Agost and August Raskie lost in two sets. Lauren Page and Marine Hall-Poirier did the same.
Against Boise State, Stone and Scott claimed another victory, finishing in two sets (21-17 and 21-19). For the Ducks’ second win against Boise State, Page and Hall-Poirier redeemed themselves by winning two of three matches against the against the Broncos.
However, Oregon’s defeat came because of the results on the top two courts. In the top court, Van Sickle and Vander Weide fell to Maddy O’Donnell and Maddi Osburn after three hard-fought sets (17-21, 21-17 and 15-13). Meanwhile, Agost and Raskie had their second defeat of the day, once again in two sets. Their final scores were 21-17 and 21-12. Johnson and Silberger-Franek were also defeated in two sets.
Next week, the Ducks will play five matches, two of which are rematches against Sacramento State and Boise State. They will also face Pac-12 opponents Washington, Stanford and Cal.
Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03