EUGENE, Or.- The Ducks were back in Matthew Knight Arena following a five-set win over Purdue to play a Big Ten Challenge Tournament matchup against Illinois. The fighting Illini came into the match tied for second in the conference with a 3-0 record and a seven-game win streak. The Ducks are on a 2 game win streak and have a 2-1 record in conference play.
After Illinois started with the first serve of the game, a kill by Oregon’s middle blocker, Iva Šucurovic started a 3-point streak for the Ducks, followed by an ace by Reese Sheppard and a kill by Sjakke Donkers. Donkers led the first set in kills with six and led the set with six points.
Valetina Vaulet checked in for the Ducks after missing the last game towards the end of the first set. “Excited for Val, excited that she's on our team and ready to play,” Coach Trent Kersten said about Vaulet. “Incredible volleyball player that we all love being a part of the Ducks.”
The Ducks took the first set 31 to 29, after going back and forth with the Illini over set point. The Ducks ended the first set on top with 20 kills and only nine errors. The Illini came out of the first set with 15 kills and seven errors.
Illinois won the second set by 10, with a score of 25 to 15. The Illini had 14 kills with three errors while the Ducks had 11 kills and seven errors. Oregon came back in the third set beating Illinois 25 to 20. “We just started to play better volleyball at the end of set two and then carried that over into set three” Coach Kersten said on the second to third sets.
The Ducks were able to finish it out in the fourth set with a score of 25 to 22. 15 kills propelled the Ducks over the Illini’s 12 in the final set of the match.
“I’m so happy. I’m so happy to contribute this much” Donkers said on contributing to the team early in conference play. Donkers led the match in attacks with 44 and was tied with Vaulet for second in kills with 14. “I feel like I can rely on my teammates so much that I can play just freely and we're doing it as a team, which I think is very beautiful.”
Oregon had 64 kills throughout the 4 sets of play and had a .242 hit percentage. Illinois made 56 kills and had a .214 hit percentage and was unable to win more than one set.
The Ducks will go on the road this week, facing Michigan State on October 9th and Michigan on the 10th before returning to Mathew Knight to play Indiana on the 16th, hoping to extend the 3 game win streak.