Oregon Ducks Volleyball Sweeps The Colorado Buffaloes

The #20 Oregon Ducks ended their weekend stint on a high note in sweeping the Colorado Buffaloes, 25-23, 25-17, 25-22.

The teams were feeling their play out early, and through a combination of some timely kills and excellent blocking, the Buffaloes pulled ahead on a 4-0 run.

The Ducks then closed the gap with a 6-2 run to tie it 12-12. The middle of the set was very back-and-forth, and Colorado pulled ahead with a 4-1 run. Oregon responded with a 5-0 run to regain the lead.

Colorado hung in there and tied again at 18-18.

The Buffaloes tied again at 20, and then Oregon began pulling away. After a Mimi Colyer kill, it was Gloria Mutiri’s turn to shine on a solo block:

The Buffaloes caught up at 23-23, and then then Ducks took the next two points when they counted the most, off a Robey Kiari kill and then the block for set point.

Morgan L. Blackwell

In the second set, Colorado looked a bit out of sorts defensively, and Oregon jumped on an early lead that they held for the rest of the set. The Buffaloes had committed 6 attack errors en route to finding themselves down by seven after a Robey Kiari kill.

After a 4-0 Colorado run to pull to within 3 at 17-14, the Ducks called a timeout to take a breath and reset. Reset they did, and finished the set with an 8-3 run to put the set away.

The Buffaloes defense had picked up after the first part of the second set, but they could not overcome their hit percentage of .029

Morgan L. Blackwell

Colorado regained their composure in the third set, playing scrappy with a tough defense. They held initial leads at 2-4 and 4-6, but the Ducks were not buying the beachfront mountain property and took control of the game straightaway. Elise Ferreira did not call her own number as often as she did against Utah on Friday, but when she did it was effective.

Both sides played to ties at 7, 10 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 - and the Buffaloes momentarily held the lead at 13-14 - but Colorado began to wilt beneath the Oregon pressure. The Buffaloes hung in there as best they could but could only come to within two points of the Ducks. Oregon pulled out the brooms and swept Colorado aside on a Mimi Colyer kill.

Oregon’s offense was fairly even for the match, with a hit percentage of .214 and .216 in the first two sets, and a stellar .344 in the third. Both sides had 39 kills, but with Colorado encumbered by twice the attack errors (22 to 11), the Buffaloes struggled on offense. Oregon finished with a .252 H% to Colorado’s .149.

Morgan L. Blackwell

Oregon’s serving game was finely displayed, with 8 aces to Colorado’s 4, including two apiece from Georgia Murphy, Elise Ferreira, and Mimi Colyer.

Mimi Colyer was the kills leader with 13, and notched a double-double, adding 11 digs. Brooke Nuneviller added 12 kills. And while the kill numbers of Robey Kiari, Colby Neal, and Gloria Mutiri didn’t reach double digit heights, their kills came at critical junctures when they landed.

Morgan L. Blackwell

Elise Ferreira has been on her game of late, and it showed in today’s match, with a double-double of 31 assists and 12 digs.

Today’s win gives Matt Ulmer his 100th victory as head coach of the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks remain unbeaten in the state of Oregon this season, and they look to build on their three-game win streak when they hit the road to play the Arizona schools this coming weekend.

The Oregon Ducks play the Arizona Wildcats on Friday, 10/28/22 at 7:00 pm PT. Then they take on the Arizona State Sun Devils on Sunday, 10/30/22 at 1:00 pm PT.

Both matches are televised on the Pac-12 Network.