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Oregon Volleyball Recap: Oregon takes 1st conference loss to the Cougars

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Written Story by Ben Schoenfield

Today at Matthew Knight Arena the #6 Oregon Ducks (13-1, 3-0) faced off against the #7 Washington State Cougars (13-1, 3-0) at 12:00. The Ducks came in with a 20-match home winning streak. The Cougars are coming in on a 12-game winning streak.

In the first set the Cougars got off to a hot start and scored the first 10 points of the match. Washington State was capitalizing off of errors by the Oregon team, as well as being on point defensively with a lot of blocks. In the second half the set was played pretty close, after the first 10 points it was 15-14 for the rest of the set. Washington State won the first set 25-14.

In the second set the Ducks stabilized and won the second set, the set was a lot of back and forth with a few runs. Oregon recovered and turned around the kill to error ratio. The Ducks kept the Cougars streaks to a minimum.  Oregon won the set 25-20, tying the match at 1 set each.

The third set was a thriller, it was a very back and forth set the entire time, there were 9 ties and 4 lead changes. Oregon had a chance to take the lead in terms of total sets 3 times. They were up 24-23, 25-24, and 26-25. This set nobody was able to just finish it out. Oregon at the beginning of the set was down both 10-5, and 14-8. So they were able to recover and take the lead in the set. The third set finished with a score of 29-27 with the Washington St. Cougars winning the set. 

Lastly in the 4th set the Cougars looked to close out the match with a 3-1 match win. Oregon looked poised to take the set and force a 5th set. They did not give up the lead until WSU took the lead 24-23 looking at match point. Oregon allowed Washington State to score the last 6 points to win, 25-23.

Overall, looking at the rest of the season they need to keep their errors down and the opponents streaks to a minimum. Washington State handed Oregon their first conference loss and only their second loss of the season, and snapped Oregon’s home winning streak. Washington State won the match 3-1.

The Oregon Ducks next match is in Boulder, Colorado against the University of Colorado Buffaloes at 6:00 P.M. on Friday, October 6th. They will be back in Eugene on October 13th vs. UC Berkeley.

Audio Story by Griffin Bowes

SOCCER RECAP: Ducks Stack Experience; Come Up Short Against The Buffs

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By David Miller

The Oregon Ducks came home from Arizona ready to run hot in their home conference opener. The Ducks (0-8-2) fought hard, including scoring for the first time at home this season, but it would not be enough to put away Colorado (9-2-0) and the Buffs won 3-1.

The Oregon mist fell over a chilly Papé Field, where the Ducks looked to gain their first win of the season in their Pac-12 conference home opener. The Ducks came into the game off a tough loss in their first conference matchup of the season against Arizona.

The Ducks came out aggressive, which left them vulnerable. A turnover in their own box led to a Colorado goal in just the 10th minute from Shyra James.

The Ducks kept their heads up and found themselves with a corner kick in the 28th minute. Kristen Conti was able to get her head on the ball and sent it into the back of the net.

Both defenses stiffened up following the early goals and managed to take a 1-1 tie into the locker room at the half.  After some antics from The Duck mascot and promotions team, the Ducks and Buffs emerged for the second half.

The Ducks came out with the same intensity they had in the first half and managed to take the 1-1 tie into the 60th minute. However, they would give up two goals in short succession, one in the 61st minute to Ally Clark and the second in the 62nd minute by Emerson Layne.

The game was chirpy and physical throughout, which led to a couple of late match yellow cards for Oregon’s Ajanae Respass and Colorado’s Ally Clark.

Though the Ducks continued to press forward and create shots on goal, they were unable to score on Colorado’s strong defense.

The Ducks return to Papé field against Utah on Sunday, where they look to build on the momentum from what Coach Graeme Abel called “big progress.”