Oregon Overpowers Flyers, Win In Straight Sets

Oregon faced off against the Dayton Flyers in the second round of the NCAA tournament Saturday night. The Ducks lead mostly from wire to wire in this match not trailing until Dayton took a 3-2 lead in the third set. A strong defensive effort and sharp attacking carried the Ducks en route to a straight set victory 25-15, 25-20, 25-21 . It seemed as though each time the Flyers would challenge; Oregon had an answer, whether it be defensively to stop a run or to start one of their own, the Ducks were in control from start to finish. The Flyers received a strong effort from senior Rachel Krabacher who totaled 18.5 points in a losing effort.

The first set was all Oregon as they came out aggressive on the attack taking the first four points to set the tone for the set. The Ducks defense played strong, limiting the Flyers’ hitting percentage to a mere .098%. Liz Brenner lead the way with 6 kills in the first as the Ducks hit at 31% with 16 total kills. After the game, Coach Jim Moore commented on Brenner, "First couple swings I went ‘Uh-oh.’ …I knew right away she was going to have a great night." For Dayton, Rachel Krabacher was the leading star for the Flyers tallying 8 kills in the set.

Dayton played the second set closer, closing within two points late in the set but Oregon’s defense never let them get any closer. Alaina Bergsma continued her torrid pace this tournament with 8 kills in the second set to pace Oregon as the Ducks continued to kill their way to another set win. The Flyers closed to within 2 of the Ducks at 11-9 but were turned away and the Ducks regained their momentum when Dayton committed a series of errors to help extend the Oregon lead to 5 and they wouldn't look back holding at that 5 point advantage.

After the break, the Flyers came out with a renewed focus and took their first lead of the match at 3-2. The teams would trade points back and forth with neither gaining an edge until the Ducks took a 15-12 lead off of an Ariana Williams kill. The teams would trade points for the remainder of the set that eventually went to the home town team 25-21. The Ducks hitting percentage continued to climb as they hit at a .486% clip with 20 kills. Brenner and Bergsma, each had 5 a piece.

"As for going to the Sweet 16, we get to keep playing…it doesn't mean a thing other than we get to keep playing and we like it." The Ducks face off against BYU in the regional tournament. The one wart on this win is the serving. While the Ducks had 3 aces, they also committed 7 service errors, 3 coming from Lauren Plum. It’s a small gripe as this team looks poised to make a deep run at the national crown.

Oregon Women's Volleyball Post game (via Jake Tabor)