True sophomore opposite hitter Noemie Glover helped the No. 13 Oregon Ducks to stay neck-and-neck versus No. 8 Purdue Boilermakers through a tough five-set loss on Wednesday.
Coming off of a two-match win streak beating Michigan State and Michigan consecutively, Glover and the Ducks had hoped to use this momentum to stay undefeated for the rest of the regular season.
Oregon was looking for its first win against a top-10 opponent this season but ultimately fell short.
The Ducks entered the week having recorded double-digit blocks in five consecutive matches. Overall, the Ducks have now reached 10 or more blocks in 13 matches this season, nine of those coming during Big Ten play.
Glover tallied six block assists on Wednesday night to now put her season total at an impressive 86.
“I feel like I just have to come into the game knowing I have to score big points for our team to be successful," Glover said.
And big moves she made versus the Boilermakers, recording 15 kills with three kills per set, being higher than her average of 2.23.
Head coach Matt Ulmer emphasized the need for sustained discipline and composure under pressure.
“We just weren’t disciplined for long enough. The crazy thing about our sport is that we outscored them, just like how we did in the [USC] match, and we lost. It’s crazy to statistically outdo them in everything and you lose,” Ulmer said. “I try to understand, like wow, we did a lot of really good things. Again, we just need to continue to handle ourselves, and we need to stay disciplined under pressure longer.”
“I totally believe that this is something we can do,” Ulmer continued. “I saw much more brighter moments for us in long periods of time, lot of really good things we’ve been working on, so I’m very encouraged by it, we would like to win obviously but good progression.
The young star Glover has proven that she belongs amongst the top, tying with Michelle Ohwobete in the third set with five kills each.
The Ducks will travel to Los Angeles, to face on the UCLA Bruins. They’ll look to take it all in their final matchup of the regular season on Nov. 29.