HONOLULU, Hawaii – Facing a ranked challenge in its season opener, the No. 9 Oregon volleyball team responded with a straight-set victory (25-21, 25-22, 25-13) over 13th-ranked San Diego Friday evening at the Rainbow Wahine Classic. The Ducks generated a .341 hitting percentage while holding USD to a .062 figure thanks, in part, to 13.0 total team blocks.
Mimi Colyer led all players with 15 kills while hitting .324 while Morgan Lewis and Gabby Gonzales put down nine (.368) and seven kills (.300), respectively. From her setter’s position, Hannah Pukis recorded 30 assists, eight digs, two aces, two kills and a block.
Defensively, Karson Bacon registered a match-high seven blocks followed closely by fellow middle Kara McGhee who turned away six USD attacks. Libero Georgia Murphy had 10 digs and six assists against the Toreros while Colyer and Daley McClellan picked up nine and seven digs, respectively.
How It Happened
The Ducks never trailed in the opening set and jumped out to a 10-6 advantage on the fourth kill of the match for Colyer. The lead built to as much as six—15-9—to force San Diego to use its second timeout. Later in the set, the Toreros used a five-point surge to pull even at 17-all but Oregon responded with a 5-1 fun of its own to regain control of play.
Holding on to a two-point lead late in the opener, the Ducks took advantage of an errant serve by San Diego to arrive at set point. Senior middle blocker Karson Bacon closed out the set with a solo stuff on the next point to give UO the early 1-0 match lead.
The offense generated a .357 hitting percentage in the…
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