The Ducks (9-2, 3-0 Pac-12) were in control throughout Thursday’s match, winning 25-17, 25-15, 25-12. Oregon outhit ASU .416 to .124 and had three players with double figures in kills, led by Gloria Mutiri with 14.
“It was just a credit to our team’s rhythm,” Mutiri said. “I felt like we were in a really good rhythm today. Everyone was just doing their job really well. And it’s always nice to see a lot of sets form Hannah (Pukis), so I was excited about that. But it was just following the game plan to a T, knowing what their defense was up to and keep exploiting that.”
How It Happened: Mutiri had Oregon’s first two kills of the night, helping the Ducks jump out to a 4-2 lead in the opening set. Oregon broke a 6-6 tie with a kill from freshman Mimi Colyer, a block by Mutiri with Kiari Robey and a kill by Brooke Nuneviller. After ASU closed within 12-11, a block by Mutiri with Colby Neal sparked a four-point UO run that included kills by Colyer, Nuneviller and Neal. Kills by Mutiri and Pukis closed out the set for the Ducks.
Colyer spiked down an overpass and then had a solo block as Oregon took a 3-1 lead in the second set. Back-to-back aces by the freshman made it 7-4, before the Sun Devils rallied into a 9-9 tie. The Ducks responded with a 5-0 run that included three kills by Mutiri, and she later had another to set up set point before teaming with Robey on a set-clinching block.
“Gloria made so many good choices tonight,” UO coach Matt Ulmer said. “I mean, really, all of them were really good choices, and she had a lot of variety to her swings — the most I’ve seen probably in her career. It just really felt like she had control of the ball.”
Oregon capitalized on some ASU errors to take an early lead in the third, before Neal finished off a long rally between the two teams with a kill for a 7-4 lead. Two Mutiri kills sandwiched around an ace by Pukis made it 14-6, and Colyer got the lead to 10 with a kill for a 19-9 lead. Nuneviller had consecutive UO points to set up match point, and a kill by Colyer out of the back row finished it off.
Notable: Mutiri’s 14 kills came on 20 total attacks with no errors, for a hitting average of .700 — the best of her career. … Nuneviller finished with 10 kills…
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