Forced Fifth Set But Ducks Lose in Seattle

SEATTLE, Wash. – The No. 12 Oregon volleyball team rallied to force a fifth set Sunday and saved three match points before 16^th-ranked Washington came away with the Sunday thriller. With the setback, the Ducks are now 10-4 overall with a 4-2 mark in Pac-12 play.
 
Freshman Mimi Colyer put down a season-high 25 kills while senior Brooke Nuneviller tallied a 20-20 performance with 20 kills and a match-leading 25 digs. Morgan Lewis added 11 kills on a .450 hitting percentage. Defensively, libero Georgia Murphy and Kiari Robey led the efforts with 17 digs and five blocks, respectively.
 
Sunday’s top-20 matchup was the sixth five setter in the past 11 meetings of the Oregon-Washington series.
 
How It Happened
In the decisive fifth, Washington (13-3, 5-1) jumped out to a 5-0 advantage before Oregon got on the board with back-to-back kills from Nuneviller. The Huskies continued to stretch their lead, up to 11-3 before UO began to mount a charge.
 
The Ducks rattled off three in a row, two featuring plays—a block with Robey and a kill—by Lewis. She tallied her 11^th and final kill of the night to bring Oregon within four and Washington called a timeout with its lead down to 12-8. Out of the break, Colyer continued the UO surge with her 25^th kill to cut the Ducks’ deficit to three.
 
Washington steadied to win the next two points and give itself a handful of match points.
 
Oregon saved the first with a UW service error and then got back-to-back points featuring Colby Neal, teaming with