Morgan Lewis marked her final regular-season match at home by tying her career high with 19 kills, hitting .486 in the process as the Ducks won 25-14, 24-26, 25-16, 25-22. Mimi Colyer added 11 kills with 10 digs, Gabby Gonzales had nine kills with eight digs and Kara McGhee added eight kills with seven blocks.
Playing just two days after completing a weekend sweep in the desert by beating Arizona on Sunday, the Ducks started off hot Tuesday before hitting a lull in the second set. But led by Lewis, they regained momentum and won in four.
“Physically we’re pretty tired, and emotionally we’re tired too — Senior Day always does that,” UO coach Matt Ulmer said. “So I’m really proud of us for a lot of things we did. …
“(Lewis) just felt really unstoppable. The decision-making for her is probably where I’ve seen the most growth, and just consistency within that. She executed so well.”
Lewis, Gonzales and McGhee weren’t the only seniors to lead the way Tuesday. Karson Bacon had five kills with three blocks, Hannah Pukis dished out 47 assists with 15 digs, Georgia Murphy had 15 digs with three aces and Elise Ferreira had another of Oregon’s 11 aces on the night.
USC played without the Pac-12’s leading attacker, Skylar Fields, who averages 5.23 kills per set but was out due to injury.
“Skylar is just such a dynamic player, and they feed her so many balls,” Murphy said. “… The way they spread it out is completely different than when she’s in the game. So it took a little bit to adjust, with all their other weapons. But I think we handled it very well.”
How It Happened: Lewis got her night started early with the first two kills of the match for Oregon, though the Ducks trailed 6-4 in the opening minutes. But after a service error by USC, Pukis took over serve and didn’t yield it until Oregon had a 13-0 run and a 17-6 lead. The run included two aces, three kills by Lewis, and two kills plus two blocks by McGhee. USC later scored four straight to get within 18-11, but Oregon answered with a 4-0 run of its own and eventually closed out the set.
The aces by Pukis during the 13-0 run were two of Oregon’s 11 on the night, led by Murphy with three.
“Service pressure is really huge,” Murphy said. “I think it’s really obvious how…
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