STANFORD, Calif. – The Oregon volleyball team suffered its first defeat of the season Friday evening, a five-set loss to No. 10 Minnesota in the first match of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge hosted by Stanford. The sixth-ranked Ducks led 2-1 but Minnesota came away with the win after a back-and-forth fifth that featured eight ties.
Including Friday, five of the past six meetings in the all-time series have been extended to at least four sets including three five setters.
Hannah Pukis had a match-high 58 assists coupled with 14 digs to complete her third double-double of the year. She also six kills and two aces against the Golden Gophers. Mimi Colyer (20 kills, 15 digs) and Gabby Gonzales (18 kills, 14 digs) joined Pukis with double-doubles of their own.
On a night where the Ducks had four players with double-digit kills, Morgan Lewis tied her career high with 16 kills while Kara McGhee put down a season-high 12 kills. It was McGhee’s first time in double figures as a Duck. Both Lewis and McGhee had four blocks in the setback.
Along with libero Georgia Murphy’s team-high 16 digs, Oregon also had four players with 10 or more digs. Daley McClellan wasn’t far behind with seven digs.
How It Happened
From 6-all in the fifth set, Minnesota (3-2) went on a four-point run to take a 10-6 lead and force UO head coach Matt Ulmer to call timeout. The Ducks answered immediately and went ahead with a 5-0 surge, capping the run of points with a Lewis-McGhee block for an 11-10 lead….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Oregon Athletics…