University of Oregon
17-11, 10-10Pac-12
Kennesaw State
21-4, 13-1ASUN
Ducks Sweep Kennesaw State, Advance to Second Round
12/01/17 | Women's Volleyball
The Ducks recovered from a bit of a slow start on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to sweep Kennesaw State, 28-26, 25-19, 25-18, and advance to face No. 13 seed BYU Saturday in the second round
PROVO, Utah - The Oregon volleyball team recovered from a bit of a slow start on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to sweep Kennesaw State, 28-26, 25-19, 25-18, and advance to the second round in Smith Fieldhouse.
The Ducks (18-11) move on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in as many seasons, and will face No. 13 seed and host BYU on Saturday at 6 p.m. PT with a berth to the Sweet 16 on the line. The match will be televised nationally on BYUtv as well as streamed live on BYUtv.org and ESPN3.
"Kennesaw State is a very good team," said head coach Matt Ulmer. "They played with a lot of emotion and I thought they gave us everything we could handle in the first set. I'm proud of our team for responding and for fighting and working through some stuff. I thought we did a lot of nice things."
How it Happened: Kennesaw State (21-5) came out energized in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, jumping out to leads of 4-0 and 11-4. A Jolie Rasmussen kill sparked the Ducks out of a timeout, igniting a stretch of four straight points and an 11-4 run to pull the set even, 15-15. Trailing 20-18, Oregon took the lead on three KSU errors and then played to set-point, 24-23. The Owls stayed alive twice and even took set-point at 26-25, but a kill by Lauren Page kicked off three straight UO points as the Ducks pulled out the opening-set win.
The Ducks broke a 4-4 tie in the second set with an 11-2 run, including a stretch of six straight points, to take control, 15-6. The Owls were able to string together some points to get as close as five, 20-15, but Oregon finished off the set, 25-19, to take a 2-0 lead into intermission. Sophomore Ronika Stone played a huge role on the block for the Ducks through two sets, tying her career-high with nine block assists while factoring in on all of UO's rejections.
Oregon jumped out to a 9-4 lead to start the third set, using a pair of 3-0 runs, and extended that advantage to 17-10 with two more stretches of three straight points. Three points in four rallies brought the Owls within four, 20-16, but the Ducks scored four of the final five points to sweep the match and advance to the second round, with Page putting down the decisive kill.
Who Stood Out: Taylor Agost led the Ducks with 11 kills on .273 hitting, Rasmussen (.353) and Lindsey Vander Weide both put down seven kills, Stone and Willow Johnson each had six and Page finished with four on seven swings (.571). Stone led all players with nine total blocks, August Raskie (21) and Maggie Scott (16) combined for 37 assists and Vander Weide and Alex Hojnar each had 11 digs.
What it Means: Oregon moves on to the second round for the eighth time since 2007, and will play on Saturday for its first Sweet 16 berth since 2014. The win also gives Ulmer his first NCAA Tournament win as a head coach, just a day after he signed a new four-year contract.
Notable: The Ducks ended a 12-match winning streak for Kennesaw State ... Agost and Scott each added service aces … Oregon out-blocked KSU, 12-4, with Stone factoring in on nine … The Ducks out-hit the Owls, .252 to .141 … Oregon beat Kennesaw State in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Up Next: Oregon will play No. 13 seed BYU Saturday in the second round at 6 p.m. PT in Smith Fieldhouse.
Senior @taylor_agost on getting the first-round win for @UOCoachUlmer after his contract announcement and starting her final NCAA Tournament off right #GoDucks #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/8LpteWvDH4
— Oregon Volleyball (@OregonVB) December 2, 2017
.@ronikastonee on tying her career-high with 9 block assists. UO finished with 12 total team blocks #GoDucks #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/jaQqaLtSu5
— Oregon Volleyball (@OregonVB) December 2, 2017
