No. 11 Oregon volleyball moves to 12-2 overall after a dominant three-set shutout against the No. 16 USC Trojans. Last week the Ducks were shut out (0-3) at Penn State for their first conference loss of the season.
“It was really important for us to bounce back after Penn State,” head coach Matt Ulmer said. And bounce back they did.
Set 1 was neck and neck throughout until the Ducks pulled away at the 18-18 mark. Outside hitter Mimi Colyer racked up three kills to lead the charge, accompanied by errors made by the Trojans to go on a seven straight point tirade to win the set 25-18.
Set 2 was another stalemate. The Trojans led by as much as three, thanks to dominant kills at the net from USC’s Ally Batenhorst. The outside hitter notched five kills in the second set, accompanied by four from fellow outside hitter Jadyn Livings.
But that performance couldn’t fend off the Ducks. With the set tied 25-25, middle blocker Tyrah Ariail picked up her one and only attack error of the night for the Trojans giving the lead to the Ducks 26-25. To close out the set, middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu smashed her third kill of the game to win the set 27-25.
The third and final set of the match was another standoff, with eight ties and three lead changes throughout. Yet again past the midway mark at 16-15, the Ducks pulled away. Oregon went into a scoring frenzy with six straight points thanks to multiple forced attack errors by the Ducks on the Trojans. USC tried to stop Oregon’s momentum with a solo block from redshirt freshman Leah Ford and a kill from Ariail. But Colyer’s 17th kill of the night sparked a 3-2 run to win the set 25-19 and the match.
“This was super exciting for us because we know what we’re capable of and we were able to execute tonight,” senior libero Mackenzie Morris said. “So this just gives us a lot of confidence in ourselves, so we know we can compete in these big games and crush teams.”
The Ducks saved themselves from a two-match losing streak and moved to 4-1 in conference play. On the other end, The Trojans had their two-match winning streak snapped and are 3-2 in conference play. Next for the Ducks is another Big Ten Showdown at home against the No. 24 Washington Huskies on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. pacific-standard.