Ducks Take on Huskies at Alki Beach
04/14/16 | Women's Beach Volleyball
The Ducks finish out the regular season Saturday at 2:30 p.m. when they play Washington at Alki Beach in Seattle.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Fresh off the program's first-ever win over Stanford, UO will look to continue building mometum as it prepares for the Pac-12 Tournament by taking down another conference foe.
The Ducks are in their third week of the season while the Huskies are just getting underway, having played their first matches of the season last weekend in Sacramento.
This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools in Washington and marks the first home match ever for the Huskies. The previous two meetings have taken place in Portland.
LAST TIME OUT
Oregon and Stanford squared off in the Ducks' 2016 season opener with a match didn't go UO's way as the Cardinal claimed a 4-1 win in Portland. Last Sunday's results would be much different as head coach Stacy Metro adjusted her line-up and the Ducks came away with three key wins.
At the bottom of the order, Oregon pulled out two dramatic three-set victories to take an early lead in the match.
At No. 5 Haley McLaren and August Raskie fell 21-19 in the first set to Tami Alade and Karina Robinson, but rallied to take the second 22-20 and seal the win with a 15-11 victory in the third.
Lauren Page and Maddy Silberger-Franek also suffered a first set loss as they fell 21-17 to Courtney Bowen and Jennifer DiSanto. However, the Duck duo rallied and won the second set 21-19 and the deciding third set 15-13.
The Cardinal would respond with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 to tie the match up and it came down to the top pair of Kacey Nady and Liz Brenner who sealed the win for Oregon. The two lost narrowly to Stanford's freshman duo of Hayley Hodson and Payton Chang the first time the two teams met, but on Sunday they rallied to claim the victory in three sets. Hodson and Chang won the first set 21-18, but Nady and Brenner took the second set 22-20 and then capped off the win by taking the third 15-12.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Washington went a perfect 8-0 in the 2015 season, but after one weekend of play in 2016, the Huskies' record already features a blemish. New Mexico handed UW a 5-0 sweep in the season opener, beating the Huskies in straight sets in the top four spots. Washington responded after that, picking up two 5-0 wins of its own, dropping CSU-Bakersfield and Sacramento State to end the opening weekend with a 2-1 record.
BETTENDORF TIES RECORD
Senior Martenne Bettendorf collected her 11th career victory against Arizona State on April 9, tying her with Shellsy Ashen for the all-time winningest player in Oregon beach volleyball history. Bettendorf collected nine wins in 2014, the inaugural season, and has added two more to her resume this season.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Ducks will have next weekend off and then head to Los Angeles to play in the Pac-12 Championships. The Championships will feature both a pairs and team competition with play starting Thursday, April 28 at Merle Norman Stadium on the campus of USC.
