SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The fifth-ranked Oregon volleyball team completed a 2-0 road weekend with a 3-1 win over Utah (25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 25-16) Sunday afternoon at the Huntsman Center. With the win, the Ducks improve to 15-2 overall with a 5-1 mark in Pac-12 play.
Mimi Colyer tallied a match-high 15 kills with Gabby Gonzales and Morgan Lewis each adding 11 kills in the victory. The Ducks hit .295 against Utah, including a .393 output over sets three and four. Lewis and Gonzales hit .474 and .333, respectively, and had just four attack errors between them.
Defensively, Oregon tied a season high with 14.0 total team blocks and held the Utes to a .098 hitting percentage. Senior libero Georgia Murphy led all players with 17 digs, just one off her season high. At the net, Karson Bacon registered seven blocks while Colyer, Lewis and Kara McGhee each had five.
Gonzales (11 kills, 11 digs) and Hannah Pukis (39 assists, 10 digs) each had a double-double against Utah.
How It Happened: The home team won the first point of the match but the Ducks rattled off five of the next six points to gain control of the opening frame. Oregon pushed its advantage to 14-8 with a kill by Lewis and forced Utah to use its first timeout of the afternoon. The Utes pulled to within four on a solo block—UO leading 19-15—but Oregon ended the set winning six of seven points.
The Ducks had four service aces in the first including the set winner by Pukis. Oregon finished the match with six aces. The team’s first-set efforts were also boosted by five blocks.
The second set was tied at 7-all but Utah (8-8, 3-3) used a 6-1 run to go ahead, taking a 13-8 lead into an Oregon timeout. The Ducks got to within three points later and saved a pair of set points but Utah came away with the frame to tie the match.
Oregon did not trail for the remainder of the match.
In the third, Kate Thibault served up her 10th ace of the year for a 10-6 lead which led to a timeout by Utah. Oregon began to steadily create separation on the scoreboard, winning eight of 11 points to go ahead 18-11 after Bacon and Lewis teamed up for a block. The host Utes saved two set points but UO secured the set—and 2-1 match lead—with the help of an attack error by Utah.
Another quick start saw the Ducks win the first three points of the third and then take a 10-4 lead on back-to-back kills from Colyer. Oregon turned a four-point lead into a nine-point cushion with a 5-0 surge that included two Lewis-McGhee blocks; UO led 19-10 after the rush of points. Gonzales ended the match with a kill off the Utah block.
Notable: With Thibault’s service ace in the third, the Ducks added a sixth player with 10 or more aces this season: Mimi Colyer (23), Hannah Pukis (18), Daley McClellan (17), Gabby Gonzales (13), Georgia Murphy (10) and Thibault (10).
Up Next: The Ducks are back at Matthew Knight Arena for the start of a four-match home stand when they welcome Arizona and No. 23 Arizona State. The home weekend begins Friday against Arizona at 7 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.
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