No. 15 Ducks Return to MKA to Host Arizona Schools

EUGENE, Ore. - After coming away with a split in a pair of tough, five-set road matches at Washington and Washington State last week, the No. 15 Ducks return home to host the Arizona schools this weekend in the first half of a four-match home stand.

At 4-4 in Pac-12 play, Oregon (11-5) is looking to make a move in the conference standings beginning this weekend against Arizona (Fri., 8 p.m.) and Arizona State (Sat., 7 p.m.).

HOW TO FOLLOW
Friday's match against Arizona will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks, while Saturday's match against Arizona State will be streamed live at GoDucks.com/live. Matt Tyra and KWVA Radio will be broadcasting both matches on 88.1 FM and kwva.uoregon.edu, and updates can be found during both matches on Twitter via @OregonVB.

DUCKS SPLIT ON WASHINGTON TRIP
Oregon played about as tight a match as there can be last Wednesday at No. 14 Washington in a dramatic 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 15-13 loss. The Ducks and Huskies finished tied in kills (66), aces (6) and digs (78), and Oregon had just one more assist (61-60) and just a couple more points scored (84.5-82). A crucial receiving error by the Ducks with the fifth set tied, 13-13, gave UW the edge. SR OH/RS Taylor Agost was tremendous with a career-high 19 kills and 11 digs to lead Oregon. Agost notched her second double-double of the year and was joined by SR S Maggie Scott (30 A, 10 D) and JR S August Raskie (20 A, 16 D).

The Ducks bounced back on Friday in Pullman in a very similar match with Washington State, pulling out a 22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 17-25, 15-13 win to extend their winning streak over the Cougars to 22 straight matches. Agost topped her great Wednesday performance with a phenomenal match to carry the Ducks to the win, hitting .302 on a lifetime-high 63 swings to establish a new career-high for kills with 24. Scott also played well, notching her second double-double in as many matches with 26 assits and 14 digs. JR MB Sumeet Gill hit .500 with eight kills, JR OH Lindsey Vander Weide had a career-high 21 digs and SO RS Willow Johnson was huge in the fifth set with six kills, including the final two of the match to break a 13-13 tie and secure the Oregon win.

AGOST MOVING INTO LEADING ROLE FOR OREGON
With SO OH Jolie Rasmussen and SO OH/L Brooke Van Sickle both dealing with injuries this season, SR OH/RS Taylor Agost moved to outside hitter for the first time since high school prior to Oregon's match against Stanford on Oct. 6. Agost has been phenomenal in the six-rotation role, hitting .286 with 3.94 kills per set, 2.00 digs per set, 10 blocks and eight aces in four matches since making the transition. Agost established career-highs for kills in back-to-back matches last week with 19 at UW and 24 at WSU, and has also provided solid back-row defense and excellent serving. Agost hit .291 with 4.30 kills per set last week in Washington.

DUCKS AMONG PAC-12 AND NATION'S BEST
The No. 15 Ducks have been among the best in both the Pac-12 and the nation this season, as apparent by their standing in multiple statistical rankings. Oregon is fourth in the Pac-12 and 26th in the nation with a .265 team hitting percentage, and fifth in the conference and tied for 48th in the nation with 13.80 kills per set. The Ducks are also third in the Pac-12 with 1.33 service aces per set. Defensively, Oregon is fourth in the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.187), and fifth in blocks per set (2.48).

EFFICIENT STONE ONE OF TOP HITTERS IN PAC-12
SO MB Ronika Stone is tied for ninth in the conference with a .333 hitting percentage, while ranking tied for seventh with 0.33 aces per set (20 total). JR MB Sumeet Gill ranks eighth in blocks per set (1.25), and SR S Maggie Scott is 10th in the conference with 6.15 assists per set while splitting time in Oregon's 6-2 offense.

DUCKS A TOP-25 STAPLE
After slotting in at No. 15 in the last two AVCA coaches polls, the Ducks have now been inside the top 25 in all nine polls so far in 2017, as well as each of the last 22 polls dating back to Sept. 12, 2016. Oregon has also been inside the top 15 in seven of the last eight weeks, just missing it in week six at No. 16. The Ducks peaked with a No. 8 ranking on September 18, the program's first top-10 ranking since November 2014 and highest since being No. 8 in the 2013 preseason poll. Oregon is also among the top teams in the nation in the NCAA RPI rankings, slotting in at No. 9 this week.

EFFICIENCY KEY FOR OREGON
There has been one constant in all of the Ducks' victories so far in 2017: an advatage in team hitting percentage. Oregon is 11-1 this season when leading in hitting percentage, losing its first such match last Wednesday at UW (.257-.219) but 0-4 when its opponent finishes with a more efficient night on the attack. The Ducks are 6-0 when hitting .300 or better this year, and 10-0 when holding their opponent under the .200 mark compared to 1-5 when their opponent hits better than .200. Oregon is also 8-1 when winning on the block this year, and 8-2 when finishing with more digs. Seven of the Ducks' 10 wins have come by way of sweep.

ABOUT ARIZONA
The Wildcats (8-9, 2-6 Pac-12) have lost six of their last seven in Pac-12 play, but did pick up a home sweep of then-No. 15 USC on Oct. 6. Arizona enters the week near the bottom of the Pac-12 stat rankings (13.1 k.s, .221), but Kendra Dahlke is ninth in the conference with 3.20 kills per set. The Wildcats will take on Oregon State on Wednesday before going to Eugene to face the Ducks on Friday.

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE
The Sun Devils (10-10, 0-8 Pac-12) come to Eugene seeking their first Pac-12 win of the year and first win since Sept. 16. ASU has put up some quality fights this year, including a tough five-set loss to then-No. 7 Washington. The Sun Devils do boast solid floor defense, as they lead the Pac-12 with 16.75 digs per set behind Halle Harker's conference-best 5.44 digs per set. ASU's .231 team hitting percentage is 10th in the Pac-12.

UP NEXT
The Ducks will stay home after hosting Arizona and ASU to welcome Utah (Oct. 25) and Colorado (Oct. 27) to MKA.