Oregon beach volleyball will enter as the No. 9 seed heading into the Pac-12 Tournament. The Ducks (4-9-1) are coming off a historic season and will take on the No. 8 Utah Utes (5-7) for a play-in match to face the nations best, the No. 1 UCLA Bruins.

This season marked a lot of firsts for the program. The Ducks eclipsed their all-time wins mark (3) after beating Pacific on the last weekend of the regular season to notch their fourth win of the season. Oregon also hosted its first ever home match since its inception in 2014. Janice Harrer, since being promoted to full-time assistant, has provided a boost and consistency by helping Head Coach Matt Ulmer to build the beach program.

Here’s how the Ducks stack up against the Utes.

Utah

The Ducks will open the Pac-12 Tournament for the third straight year against the Utes. They will play the first matchup of the day at 9 a.m. at Merle Norman Stadium in Los Angeles.

Oregon’s best chance to win is with the No. 1 duo of sophomore Brooke Nuneviller and Lindsey Vander Weide, who post the only winning record (7-4) amongst any of the duos on the Oregon side.

Utah’s top two duos of Dani Drews and Tawnee Luafalemana and Kenzie Koerber and Megan Yett have played every match together along with six pair wins from each duo. The No. 3 pair of Lauren Sproule and Jessica Villela also bring consistency along with five wins on the season.

Outside of the pair of Nuneviller and Vander Weide, the Ducks lack consistency of persistent pairs. Oregon, putting forth whichever pairs are matched up to combat a consistent Utah lineup, will need to bring consistency and a fast start if they want a crack at the nations best later in the day.

UCLA

The Bruins have the best record in the nation (28-1), only losing to No. 2 USC this season.

UCLA, who captured their first national championship last season, is led by seniors and twin sisters Nicole and Megan McNamara who were last year’s Pac-12 Pair of the Year. The Bruins, much like the Utes, bring consistency, but UCLA brings overall dominance to the sand.

Oregon had its chance against the nation’s best, but were dominated. No pair from Oregon took UCLA past two sets, thus giving the Bruins a clean sweep of the Ducks.

If the Ducks want any crack at upsetting the nation’s best, if they can get past Utah, they will need to have a “cerebral” mindset. Oregon will need to play UCLA point for point and have an overall terrific performance if they want a chance to knock off the nations best.
“On any give day, on any given match, we can win,” Harrer said.