The Oregon Ducks took on the TCU Horned Frogs in Eugene, Ore. with a chance at the Sweet 16 on the line. The Ducks came into this playoff matchup against TCU knowing this would be a tough task.
While the Ducks were ranked higher at No. 14, TCU was ranked at No. 20. This was daunting for the Ducks, as they struggled against ranked opponents this season, sitting at a 4-6 record. These fears were apparent after the first set, as the Ducks were handled 25-19.
They looked more of the same in the second set until a fire was lit underneath the entire Oregon squad. A 9-3 scoring run, started by an electric kill from Colby Neal, fueled the Ducks out to a 19-16 lead. After some back and forth, a 4-0 Ducks scoring run iced the set at 25-21. This energetic second half of Set 2 gave the Ducks the momentum that they needed for blowout Sets 3 and 4 which gave Oregon the victory.
Oregon was coming off of a first-round sweep of the unranked High Point Panthers the night before. While a great win, the Ducks were truly tested for the first time against the Horned Frogs, who had ripped off five straight wins before that.
The match started as a seesaw between the teams as the score sat at 6-6. After that, TCU got it rolling with a 5-0 scoring run and was able to keep the Ducks at bay. Following a Mimi Coyler error, the set was taken by the Horned Frogs. This set was defined by the Ducks shooting themselves in the foot, as seven errors gifted TCU free points.
“I don’t think it lacked energy, if anything it was probably too much energy, we were a little out of control,” head coach Matt Ulmer said about the first set.
Fans at Matthew Knight Arena began to get anxious about the Ducks when the second set seemed to be more of the same. The Horned Frogs took a 13-10 lead after going back and forth to begin the set, but the firecrackers of the Oregon crew stepped up big. Neal, Noemie Glover and Coyler got three straight kills to tie the set up and the fighting Ducks never looked back. TCU hung around and even tied the set at 21, but a fiery 4-0 run sealed the set to even this match at 1-1.
“Their servers did a really nice job. Part of it was us adjusting to that, the other part was us settling down, trusting our process, doing our job and playing good team Oregon volleyball, and we started to do that in the second set,” coach Ulmer said.
The third set was all Oregon. Glover slammed a kill to make it 4-3, and in the blink of an eye, the lead ballooned out to 21-7 after another 4-0 scoring run. TCU would not go down quietly though with a 3-0 run of its own, but the Ducks matched that and, with some help from a TCU error, the Ducks took Set 3. Keeping the errors down was key for Oregon in this set, as they had a match low of one.
“A big thing for us is always going against our opponents, competing against our opponents, being aggressive,” Onye Ofoegbu said after the match.
The Ducks kept the good times rolling in the fourth set as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead that eventually became a 9-3 lead. After some Horned Frogs pushed back to make it 9-7, Oregon stayed resilient and made it 14-10.
A monstrous kill from Coyler started a 6-0 run from Oregon that made fans at Matthew Knight Arena see the finish line. When the score was 23-15, fans saw what they had seen all season, and that is Coyler stepping up in big spots. A huge kill and some help from TCU have the Ducks the fourth set and a spot in the Sweet 16.
“We talked with Matt and we were able to fix some problems from last night, and I think we were able to adjust very well and work to our advantage,” said Coyler.
To no surprise, Coyler put on a show Friday, leading the match with an unfathomable 19 kills. The sky-scraping powerful slams proved to be too much for the Horned Frogs, as the Ducks won the match 3-1.
Next up for the Ducks is either a rematch with the No. 1 Pittsburgh Panthers, or the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners. Oregon was swept by Pitt in the first match of the season, so Oregon will look for revenge there. Oregon did not face Oklahoma this season. Dec. 12 is when the Ducks play next, with time and location TBA.