By Charles Martindale

On September 29th, Oregon volleyball notched an unassuming 3-1 victory against rival Washington in front of their home fans at Matthew Knight Arena. It was more of the same then for the Ducks, who pushed their winning streak in Eugene to 20 consecutive matches with the defeat of the Huskies. Surprisingly though, the streak would end at 20, with October 2023 turning into a trying month for a Ducks team with high expectations.

A loss to a talented Washington State team was the first sign of trouble, as the home winning streak was snapped. Oregon would bounce back with three consecutive wins against teams in the bottom half of the Pac-12, however a one sided loss, again on home court, last weekend to Arizona State has the Ducks looking to avoid a tailspin. The Pac-12 holds four teams in the top 20 nationally, and conference play has been a challenge so far. “I think there’s a lot of things we can learn from this, and I hope it’s something that we can take forward.” said head coach Matt Ulmer after the Ducks were swept by the Sun Devils. The struggles in conference play have been widespread, but Oregon’s tendency to start slow has been a cause for concern. Against their unranked opponents, the 8th ranked Ducks have been able to lean on their talent advantage to come back in matches. This script was hard to replicate against Washington State (4th in the nation) and Arizona State (17th in the nation).

Coming to town first this weekend to face the Ducks are the 13-6 Cal Golden Bears. At 8th in the conference, this is not a matchup many see as a trap for Oregon, but with the struggles so far this fall, a sense of urgency is more noticeable. Cal is led by the freshman out of China, Maggie Li. Li has been on the floor more than any other Golden Bear so far this season, and is the team leader in kills. Swiss junior Annalea Maeder has found a home at the setter position for interim head coach Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd’s squad, racking up 662 assists so far this year. Berkeley has another prized weapon in senior hitter Taumoepeau, Sam, who has been the offensive engine this season. While wins in matchups like this have been automatic for the Ducks in recent years, they enter Friday’s match with a bit more to prove given the slump at home and rough performance last weekend.

The headliner this weekend comes in the form of the 3rd ranked Stanford Cardinal. The Pac-12 leader, Oregon will have everything to play for when they take on Kevin Hambly’s squad, who are undefeated this year in conference play. Veteran opposite hitter Kendall Kipp is putting the finishing touches on her career, and leads Stanford in kills. Another offensive force is sophomore Rubin Elia, who is one of four players on the Cardinal with triple digit kills on the campaign. Kami Miner is another upperclassman putting up elite numbers this year from the setter position, ranking near the top of the conference in most assist based numbers.

Mimi Colyer, sophomore star for the Ducks, had been far from her usual self in previous October matchups, but her 13 kills last weekend, the only player with double digit kills for Oregon. Setter Hannah Pukis has played well also, but the Ducks will need a full team effort to hand Stanford their first conference loss of the year. Oregon will once again need to prove their worth in the conference and national conversation, along with getting back on track at home, and they’ll have an opportunity to do both this weekend.