HONOLULU, Hawaii – The ninth-ranked Oregon volleyball team completed its weekend sweep of the Rainbow Wahine Classic with Sunday’s three-set victory (25-21, 25-21, 25-15) over host Hawai’i. The Ducks are 3-0 after a weekend that included wins over No. 13 San Diego and Northwestern.
Hannah Pukis tallied 37 assists and 10 digs for her first double-double of the year, and added five kills. Mimi Colyer led all players with 17 kills while Gabby Gonzales contributed eight kills, eight digs, three blocks and two aces. In the middle, Karson Bacon put down a season-high seven kills while hitting .333 against Hawai’i.
Defensively, libero Georgia Murphy picked up a match-high 13 digs and Kara McGhee recorded seven blocks. The Ducks held Hawai’i to a .113 hitting percentage including a -.037 mark in the closeout set. Oregon finished the night with 10.0 total team blocks.
How It Happened
Facing a 16-12 deficit in the first set, the Ducks rattled off seven of nine points to push ahead on the scoreboard at 19-18 after a second-contact kill by Pukis. With the score tied at 20-all, Oregon took the lead for good with a surge that included kills by McGhee and Morgan Lewis. Hawai’i scored out of its second timeout but the Ducks went on to secure the opening on a kill by Bacon.
The teams were tied through the first eight points of the second set but Oregon never trailed after consecutive UH attack errors put the Ducks in front, 5-4. The team used a strong serving presence to control the flow of play, registering five aces in the second frame. Back-to-back aces by Gonzales gave Oregon a 21-17 lead and Daley McClellan served up an ace to give UO a handful of set points at 24-20.
Bacon and Pukis teamed up for a block on the second set point and Oregon led 2-0 at the break.
From 3-all early in the third set, the Ducks raced out to a 10-4 advantage thanks to a run of points that included two blocks and a kill by McGhee. Hawai’i never got closer than four through the remainder of the match. Colyer delivered with four-consecutive kills late in the set for a 24-15 lead and in the next rally, a Bacon-Lewis tandem block ended the match.
Caylen Alexander led the Rainbow Wahine with a 10-kill, eight-dig performance.
Notable
Colyer (6.33 p/s, 5.33 k/s, .287) was named the tournament MVP while Lewis (2.67 k/s, .340) and Pukis (11.22 a/s, 3.00 d/s, 1.33 k/s) earned spots on the all-tournament team…Murphy moved into fourth on the program’s all-time digs list (1,583)…the Ducks have won four in a row against Hawai’i in the series between the two teams.
Up Next
Oregon plays San Diego State (Aug. 31) to kick off the SDSU Invitational where the team will also face UCSB and Pepperdine.
Season tickets, starting at just $54, are available through the UO ticket office or by clicking HERE. The Ducks’ home opener will double as the team’s Pac-12 opener Friday, Sept. 22, against Oregon State.
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