By Maddie Lang
EUGENE, OR - #18 Oregon Volleyball (13-5, 7-3) travels to the sunny state of Arizona this week for a match between the Arizona Wildcats (12-9, 2-8) and the Arizona State Sun Devils (10-12, 4-6). Oregon will play Arizona first this Friday at 7:00 PM MST at McKale Memorial Center before traveling to Tempe Sunday for a match against Arizona State at 1:00 PM MST in Desert Financial Arena. This past weekend the Ducks extended their winning streak to three and Matt Ulmer picked up his 100th career win as head coach after Sunday’s sweep against Colorado. Heading into the second half of league play this weekend, Oregon hopes to keep their enthusiasm up and continue their winning streak as they play two unranked teams sitting in the bottom 3rd of the Pac-12.
Elise Ferreira Continues to Fill Hannah Pukis’ Shoes
Oregon has been without starting setter Hannah Pukis for the past 6 matches. This past weekend, the Ducks seemed to be able to compete just fine without their star setter as they have relied upon Elise Ferreira to fill her shoes. However, the last time Oregon faced off against these two teams they had Pukis as starting setter. She put up two solid performances with 36 assists and just one error in both matches. This will be the first time the Ducks face either of these teams without Pukis but it should be no problem for Ferreira to continue to fill her spot. Ferreira seems to be finding her groove and place on the team. She helped lead the team to its past three wins against UCLA, Utah, and Colorado. She had a total of 66 assists against UCLA in 5 sets and 54 against Utah in 4 sets. Her reliability is only going to aid the Ducks in putting on an even stronger performance this weekend.
Outside Hitters
Oregon ranks third in the Pac-12 in kills per set. Last time we saw Oregon face both Arizona teams we saw offensive dominance from the Ducks offensively. Against Arizona State on September 30th, Oregon had a total of 50 kills and a hitting percentage of .416. They then went and finished with a total of 44 kills and a hitting percentage of .368 against Arizona. Two key players on Oregon’s offense are Brooke Nuneviller and Mimi Colyer. Nuneviller has been one of Oregon’s go-to players when they are in a pinch. She led all players with 16 kills in their last match against Arizona and a hitting percentage of .536. Right behind her was Colyer who had 13 kills and a .440 hitting percentage. Both star players put up strong performances against the Sun Devils as well and were two of the leading forces that helped Oregon sweep both teams. Heading into this weekend, Oregon needs to stay hot on offense against these teams. Their offensive dominance through players like Nuneviller and Colyer on the net was a key factor in their successes against these two teams earlier this fall.
Defensive Dominance
Oregon’s defense should have no problem against these two teams as long as they remain consistent. Oregon averages 14.3 digs per set and 2.4 blocks per set. Last time the Ducks faced the Wildcats, sophomore, Kiari Robey, had a creer high of eight blocks. Another key component to the Oregon defense is Georgia Murphy, the team’s libero. Murphy had a total of 17 digs against Arizona State and 16 against Arizona in their last match up with each team. She has proven to be a key part of the Oregon defense and a big reason why the Arizona and Arizona State offenses struggled last time they faced the Ducks. Oregon is going to have to continue to turn to players like Robey and Murphy to protect. Arizona State’s Iman Isanovic has been putting up solid performances in their last few matches so Oregon is going to have to find a way to shut her down if they want to take control.
Arizona Wildcats
The Wildcats are sitting at #10 in the Pac-12. They went 0-3 in their last match up with the Ducks with a hitting percentage of just .133. Oregon controlled and won the first set of this match up, but Arizona came out strong in the second. They couldn’t maintain the energy however, and lost the second and third sets. They will need to look to key players like Alayna Johnson and Sofia Maldonado Diaz to get them some points on the net if they hope to have a chance on Friday night.
Arizona State Sun Devils
The last time the Sun Devils faced off against the Ducks they went 0-3 for sets. They had a hitting percentage of .124 with just 26 kills the whole match. Two stars of the Arizona State offense to keep an eye on this weekend are Iman Isanovic and Feli Cyr. In one of their most recent matches they went 3-2 and took down the #15 ranked Washington State. Isanovic had 17 kills and her teammate Cyr had 14. These two players seem to be the Sun Devils’ go to players when facing off against strong competition. Arizona State is going to have to continue to turn to players like Isanovic and Cyr if they want to put up a fight against the Ducks on Sunday.
Final Overview
Heading into these two matches, Oregon should feel confident with where they sit. They had no problem the last time they faced both teams and we should see the same thing this weekend. I see the Ducks coming out strong at the start of both matches and taking control to win them in three games each. I think we will continue to see strong performances on the net from Oregon’s stars, Brooke Nuneviller and Mimi Colyer. It should be a successful road trip for the Ducks.