A year after coming within a point of the Final Four, the Ducks will have another chance at reaching collegiate volleyball’s final weekend after sweeping Purdue on Thursday in a Sweet Sixteen match hosted by Wisconsin. The UO women (29-5) will take on their region’s top seed, the host Badgers, in an Elite Eight matchup on Saturday (5 p.m. PT, ESPNU).
Oregon enters Saturday having swept all three of its NCAA Tournament matches, and four straight overall. The Ducks hit .364 against the strong defense of the Boilermakers on Thursday, winning 25-14, 25-19, 29-27.
After dominating the first set, the Ducks trailed 18-15 in the second and 18-16 in the third. But they finished off each of the final two and advanced to play Saturday night.
“I just thought we never really let anything fluster us,” UO coach Matt Ulmer said. “We made a handful more errors in the third set; credit to them, they upped their service game and put more pressure on us. … They pushed us there, but we just kept going.”
Morgan Lewis continued her hot streak for the Ducks, notching 14 kills. Mimi Colyer was lethal attacking out of the back row and also finished with 14 kills, Gabby Gonzales added 10 kills with six digs and three aces, while middles Karson Bacon and Kara McGhee combined for 13 kills with 10 blocks.
Georgia Murphy was incredibly dynamic at libero, finishing with 13 digs, and Hannah Pukis had 42 assists with 10 digs, her 23rd double-double this season. Colyer had 11 digs, finished with her 12th double-double.
Gonzales played through a lower leg injury that required enough treatment in the days leading up to the match that Ulmer referred to the team’s athletic trainer, Mary-Grace Testa, as “the MVP of the week.”
“It’s always tough,” Gonzales said of battling through, “but my teammates around me, they make it so much easier. I know I can always lean on them. If I’m struggling, I’ve got so many people — on the court, off the court, staff — that I can look to and they can help me in any sort of way. I’m surrounded by such a great group of people here.”
How It Happened: The Ducks grabbed momentum from the outset of the match, and seemed determined not to let it go most of the first set. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead with three early kills from Lewis, and their sideout percentage remained a perfect 100 until Purdue scored…
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