EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon volleyball team was swept at home for the first time in almost two years Sunday, when No. 19 Arizona State beat the No. 5 Ducks in three sets at Matthew Knight Arena.
The UO women (16-3, 6-2 Pac-12) fell to 0-2 against ranked conference foes this season with the 27-25, 25-18, 25-19 loss Sunday. The Ducks will get another crack at a fellow conference title contender this next week, when No. 2 Stanford comes to town following a matchup between Oregon and California in Matthew Knight Arena on Friday.
The Ducks were swept at home for the first time since a loss to Utah on Oct. 29, 2021.
“They were very aggressive in everything they were doing,” UO coach Matt Ulmer said. “They outworked us, they were more intentional with what they were doing, their energy was better, they were better prepared — they just outplayed us in every facet of the game. I think there’s a lot of things we can learn from this, and I hope it’s something that we can take forward.”
How It Happened: Two straight points from sophomore Mimi Colyer got Oregon out to an early lead at 4-1, but ASU turned the tide in the opening set with a 6-1 run to lead 10-7. That run was capped by Colyer hitting into the block, and the same result capped a run of three straight points by ASU that made it 17-11. The Ducks tightened it back up and fought off two set points to extend the set, but the Sun Devils ultimately won it and finished four blocks, nearly double their average per set coming into the match.
“We were right into that block a lot,” Colyer said. “Obviously that’s not very helpful at all. They’re very good at what they do.”
The Ducks got their own block going early in the second to come back from a deficit and tie it, 5-5. Morgan Lewis had three kills in the set to lead Oregon, including one that got the Ducks within 13-12. But ASU rattled off the next five points in a row to lead 18-12, maintaining a similar gap the rest of the set.
Colyer had three kills and an ace early in the third as Oregon took a 6-3 lead. A kill by Noemie Glover broke a 10-10 tie and put Oregon in front, but ASU scored four straight to grab momentum. Another three straight ASU points made it 20-15, and though Oregon closed within 21-19, the Sun Devils answered with four straight to close out the match.
“I think that we thought we could kind of will our way back into that one,” Colyer said. “I don’t think we were necessarily making the adjustments that we should have. We weren’t sticking to the game plan.”
Up Next: The Ducks host California on Friday (7 p.m., Pac-12 Oregon).
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