Oregon Women’s Volleyball hit the court of Matthew Knight Arena tonight to face Long Island University for the Ducks’ home opener of the 2026 season. Before tonight’s game, the Ducks played three games on the road, all resulting in wins. Oregon kept the winning streak alive, sweeping LIU in three sets, and though the match looked good on the scoreboard, the team feels that their performance was not up to their standards.
On paper it was a favorable match. The Ducks took the first set 25-18, the second set 25-16, and the third set 25-19. In addition to the sweep, the team gave a total of 41 kills, 32 digs, and five blocks. When all was said and done, these stats were not enough for the team to be satisfied with their performance on the court.
Head Coach Trent Kersten pointed out after the game that tonight was, “not the best night from our team. It wasn’t the most inspired play. We were a little less physical, we were a little off, and quite honestly we need to be significantly better.”
This is Kersten’s second season with Oregon as head coach, and with one season under his belt, he feels like the bar for this season can be set much higher. Coach Kersten believes that the team can play better than this, and has been capable of doing so this season thus far. With tonight’s game being the team’s opener, it was important to the team to make a good first impression this season for the home crowd.
“Classic disgruntled coach, 3-0 win, I get it, but we have standards we want to hit. I don’t think we hit them, and I don’t think we put on a good enough display for everyone that came and spent their time with us tonight,” Coach Kersten said.
The rest of the team seems to feel the same way. After coming off of three wins and outside hitter, Valentina Vaulet, reaching 1,000 career kills in the team’s last game against Missouri, the team was certain to have high expectations for tonight's game.
“I think a lot of what Trent said was pretty accurate, like how we weren’t really hitting our standard and what we wanted, but I think with messy volleyball you just have to play through it and you got to play together,” Marina Crownove said. “We didn’t come out the best, but we finished the game.”
The team will go on to play Washington State on Sunday with one thing that will definitely be on their minds, meeting the standards. The home opener might not have been one that the team was hoping for, but definitely leaves room for fan excitement of what this team has the potential to bring if they are not satisfied with a four-game win streak and a three-set sweep.