By Graham Metzker

EUGENE, OR – Oregon Volleyball (10-4, 4-2) will travel down to Los Angeles to face USC and UCLA as their road trip continues this weekend. Oregon will play USC (13-4, 5-1) first this Friday at 8:00 PM at the Galen Center, followed by UCLA (2-4,8-7) on Sunday at 2:00 PM in Pauley Pavillion. The past weekend saw Head Coach Matt Ulmer’s six game winning streak come to a gut-wrenching end, with back-to-back road losses to Washington State and Washington. Star outside hitters Brooke Nuneviller and Mimi Colyer put forth 20-kill performances in both games, but Oregon lost in five sets in both games. Now, halfway through the 2022 season, Oregon visits two talented teams and looks to get back to winning ways.

Missing Hannah Pukis

Oregon’s starting setter Hannah Pukis did not travel for last weekend’s games in Washington, and her status is unclear for this weekend. Pukis has been outstanding in her first season in Eugene – her 10.3 assists per set is good for fifth-best in the Pac-12. Without her, the Ducks looked to the next setter up in Elise Ferreira. Against Washington State and Washington Ferreira put up consecutive 50-plus assist performances, but the Ducks were asking too much of her on both sides of the net. Constantly rotating from in front of the net to go up for blocks, to the back of the court to set up her teammates for kills, Ferreira just couldn’t be everywhere at once. Pukis is a key cog in Ulmer’s Ducks, providing both talent and depth.

Outside Hitters Continue to Produce

It was a winless start to the road trip for the Ducks, but their stars outside continued to put up big numbers. Fifth-year senior Brooke Nuneviller had 20 kills in both games, and ranks third in the conference in both kills (229) and kills per set (4.16). Freshman sensation Mimi had a career-high 25 kills last time out against Washington; but did have 10 errors, the last of which ended up being the match-loser in Seattle. It’s more of a story when Colyer hasn’t won the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week – she’s kept the honor for five of the total seven weeks this season, but ceded it to Stanford’s Elia Rubin this week. Win or lose, Nuneviller and Colyer bring the heat every game.

Skylar Fields Leads Red-Hot USC Trojans

USC has been surging up the standings, currently just a half-game behind first-place Washington. A big reason for USC’s success and current four-game winning streak is outside hitter Skylar Fields. The senior averaged 24 kills over those four games, saving her career-best 27 kills for last against Arizona State. For her efforts Fields was awarded the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week twice in a row, and she leads the conference in kills (308) and kills per set (4.89). USC freshman libero Gala Trubint is the reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, and has recorded a double-double in all 17 of her college matches. The Trojans come to Eugene with real momentum.

UCLA Bouncing Back From Tough Start

It was a rocky beginning of the ‘22 season for UCLA, one that included a sweep from No. 4 San Diego and an 0-4 start to conference play. But last weekend saw UCLA right the ship and win their first two conference matches in seven sets on home soil. The strength of this UCLA team is on the defensive side: the squad ranks first in the conference in solo blocks with 44, and middle blocker Francesca Alupei is sixth in the nation with 1.53 blocks per set. On the offensive side, outside hitter Charitie Lupiter had a coming-out party in the last game against Arizona with 25 kills. UCLA will host Oregon State an hour before USC hosts Oregon, making for a volleyball-filled Friday night in L.A.

Final Overview

The Ducks have a tough end to their road trip after their first losing weekend in a month. USC should be especially tough, currently ranked 22nd according to RPI (Ratings Power Index). But, the talent on Ulmer’s squad is too much to see the Ducks as underdogs against almost any Pac-12 opponent. I see the Ducks winning both matches, with USC taking the entire five sets and UCLA going four sets.