Dancing Ducks! UO Opens NCAA Tournament vs. Miami (Ohio) Thursday

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon volleyball team will open the NCAA tournament against Miami (Ohio) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PT in Ann Arbor, Mich. after being selected to the field on Sunday night.

Oregon (20-9, 13-7 Pac-12) finished fourth in the Pac-12 to earn an at-large berth into the field, and will make its sixth straight tournament appearance and 14th in program history. The Ducks and Redhawks will join host Michigan, the No. 12 overall seed, and American at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor for the first two rounds of the postseason.

Miami (Ohio) will take on the Ducks in the opening round after going 24-6 and 15-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The Redhawks fell to Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship Game, and are led by a balanced offensive attack that includes five different players averaging more than 2.00 kills per set. Miami (Ohio) is also strong defensively - 33rd in the country with 16.76 digs per set - behind Maeve McDonald's 4.77 digs per set.

The Ducks will look to counter the Redhawks' offensive attack with a potent one of their own, as they finished the regular season tops in the Pac-12 in kills per set (14.32) and assists per set (13.55) and tied with Stanford (No. 6 overall seed) for first with a .275 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Lindsey Vander Weide (3.24 kills per set) leads the Oregon offense along with junior Taylor Agost and freshmen Jolie Rasmussen and Ronika Stone. Senior libero Amanda Benson directs the Ducks' defense with 4.96 digs per set and 541 total digs, both second in the Pac-12.

If the Ducks can pull out a win over the Redhawks on Thursday, they would face the winner of the Michigan-American game in the second round on Friday at 4:30 p.m PT.