Eugene, OR -- No. 12 Oregon volleyball returned to Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday after a long road trip and produced a dominant performance to pick up its eighth straight win entering conference play. The Ducks finished the match with significant advantages in kills (42 to 24), hitting percentage (.351 to -.029) and blocks (14 to one).
“I thought it was our most complete match of the year. We were very consistent throughout. I thought we controlled the ball better,” head coach Matt Ulmer said at the top of his press conference. “As you can see, our block is pretty dynamic and can really mess with a lot of people.”
The Ducks' front wall seemed impenetrable at times as Noemie Glover and Onye Ofoegbu shined in the front row as Glover had a career-high 10 total blocks and Ofoegbu a season-high of eight.
Glover credits her team’s work on “hand positioning” on blocks in practice. “Sometimes we think because we jump so high that our block also needs to be really high up. I think when you start working on those hands and getting pressed you can get those good plays and read the hitter well,” Glover said.
The redshirt freshman Cristin Cline has shined in facilitating the offense all year and produced another strong performance tonight with 30 assists. She’s played in every set this year for the Ducks which is a major shift from redshirting last year.
“Cris is really starting to figure out our offense. I thought her connections tonight were solid with everybody. When we get out middles involved and we get Noemie going, it’s totally different when it’s not just the Mimi [Colyer] show,” Ulmer said.
The Mimi Colyer show started slow but ramped up as the match progressed. She had only two kills in the middle of the second set but then took over the match. She finished the night with a match-leading 10 kills as well as two service aces she produced in the third set.
“We had a conversation this week about raising standards. Her standards are already high, but they need to be higher. She can execute even better,” Ulmer said about Colyer’s play as of recently.
Ulmer did give her credit for the adjustment she’s had to make with her new role. Besides the 10 kills and two service aces, Colyer had 11 digs on the night. She’s been relied on defensively this year much more than last and has seamlessly made the transition to the back row.
“Everybody has an adjustment right now. Mimi is learning how to pass the attack and be a serving target and bring even more defense and ball control. She’s trying to figure out how to become a leader on the court. She’s had some great leaders around here over the last two years where she didn’t need to be looked upon for and it’s a challenge,” Ulmer said of the new responsibilities, adjustments and growth that Colyer has made this year.
The Ducks will begin conference play at Matthew Knight Arena next Friday against Illinois at 7:30 p.m. This team knows expectations are sky-high entering the Big Ten schedule and Ulmer knows holding the team to the highest of standards will be key to their success.
“After Portland, we had a really tough practice on Friday. Overall, what we’ve learned from this group is our standards that have been set by the group are not high enough. So, I think everybody needs to elevate what they’re capable of doing, believing in what they’re capable of doing and pushing the group to see all the things they can do differently,” Ulmer said.