Oregon Volleyball Defeats Wazzu, 3-1

#9 Oregon defeated #6 Washington State on Friday in four sets, 19-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-23.

In the series against Cal and Stanford, Karson Bacon had her left leg wrapped and Hannah Pukis had her right leg wrapped. Kate Thibault has had her right leg wrapped all season. On Friday, Bacon and Pukis did not have wraps or sleeves, and while Pukis’ play did not seem seriously affected, it was good to visually see that they appear to be on the mend.

Oregon came out sluggish in the first set, and although the Ducks briefly held a 10-9 lead, the Cougars went on an 8-1 run that created an advantage that Oregon could not catch up to.

The Ducks took firm control of the second set early on, starting with a 9-0 run. Oregon kept their foot on the gas and Washington State was never really a threat.

The third set began with an early Wazzu lead, but Oregon embarked upon an 8-1 to take the lead mid-set, 10-6.

The Cougars crept back into the set and held the lead midway in the set.

After being tied 16-16, Oregon relied on solid defense and a timely kill from Karson Bacon to take the third set.

In the fourth set, the Ducks fell in a hole and were down 12-17 in the middle of the set.

Down by five, Oregon reached deep down for the rally to take the fourth set, and the match.

Gabby Gonzales was the scoring leader for the Ducks with 13 kills. Mimi Colyer and Kara McGhee each added 11 kills. Hannah Pukis recorded a double-double with 43 assists and 13 digs. Georgia Murphy was the digs leader with 18.

Oregon’s service game was worrying, as they committed 15 service errors to WSU’s 7. The Ducks prevailed defensively, with 13 blocks to 10 for the Cougars.

Oregon (18-4, 8-3 Pac-12) will look to continue their winning ways when they battle Washington in Seattle today. That match is at 12:00 pm PT and is being broadcast on ESPN.