Six Match Swing in Bay Area on Deck
04/07/16 | Women's Beach Volleyball
Saturday and Sunday will feature Oregon competing in the Stanford Tournament, held on campus at the Stanford Sand Volleyball Stadium. The Ducks will have a re-match with Cal to start the tournament at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. They'll then take on Arizona State at 12 p.m. Sunday's match-ups include an 8:30 a.m. contest against Saint Mary's and then an 11:30 a.m. re-match with Stanford.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
This weekend will be challenging for the Ducks as they play two matches each day. The competition will be tough, but Oregon will have a chance to play several Pac-12 teams in California, Arizona State and Stanford in prepartion for the Pac-12 Tournament.
After narrowly losing to the Cardinal last weekend, UO will have a chance to avenge that loss and look to beat Stanford in its home stadium. Santa Clara is riding a four-match winning streak and recently upset No. 13 San Francisco. Meanwhile, Saint Mary's sports a 7-2 overall record and boosts wins over Stanford, Portland and Pacific. The Gaels' only two losses this season have come to California and San Francisco.
LAST TIME OUT
The Ducks opened up the 2016 spring season by hosting a four-team round-robin tournament in Portland last weekend. Oregon went 1-2 on the weekend, falling 3-2 to Stanford and 4-1 to Boise State on Saturday and then sweeping Portland, 5-0, on Sunday.
Head coach Stacy Metro played around with her line up as the early season tournament allowed her to switch the partner combinations up. Kacey Nady and Liz Brenner went 1-1 in the top spot, narrowly losing to No. 1 Stanford pair, Hayley Hodson and Payton Chang, and then easily dispatching Portland duo Hannah Troutman/Morgan Robinson on Sunday.
In the second match on Saturday, Nady partnered with freshman Haley McLaren to take on top Boise State pair, Maddy O'Donnell and Hannah Hubbard. The Duck pair were competitive in the first set, narrowly falling 21-17. The Bronco duo proved to be too much in the second set, winning 21-9.
In the No. 2. spot, Lindsey Vander Weide and Taylor Agost went 2-1 in their first weekend playing together. The pair topped Stanford's Ivana Vanjak and Catherin Raquel 21-10, 21-19 to start the 2016 season. After falling to Boise State's Sierra Nobley and Sarah Baugh, they bounced back to drop Maddy Mandon/Makayla Lindburg of Portland 21-10, 21-19.
Amanda Benson opened the season with newcomer Maddy Silberger-Franek and the duo went 1-1 at the No. 3 spot. After falling to Stanford's Merete Lutz and Halland McKenna, they scored the only UO point of the match against Boise State. After taking the first set 21-19 over Sabryn Roberts/Katie Hall, the two teams were locked in a dual in the second set with Benson/Silberger Franek eventually winning 30-28.
On Sunday, Benson teamed up with Martenne Bettendorf for the lone match and the two clinched the victory for the Ducks as they won 12-16, 17-21, 15-9 over Sarah Savoca/Monica Gajda (Portland).
At No. 4, Lauren Page competed on the first day with August Raskie and the team narrowly fell in three sets to Stanford pair Courtney Bowen/Jennifer DiSanto. They then had a tougher time against Boise State's Kaitlyn Oliver and Maddi Osburn, falling in straight sets.
On Sunday, Page partnered with Silberger/Franek and the two put away Portland's Katie Barker and DJ Milovic 21-16, 21-16 to put Oregon up 2-0 in the match.
On Saturday, Roni LaPierre and Marine Hall-Poirier competed in the No. 5 spot. The duo won against Tami Alade and Karina Robinson of Stanford, tying the match up at 1-all. In the afternoon, they lost to Boise State pair Laney Hayes and Jaymee Bulda in straight sets. On Sunday, Haley McLaren and August Raskie competed in the fifth spot and the pair logged their first career win together as they downed Brittney Markwith and Katie Sullivan of Portland 21-19, 21-16.
LOOKING AHEAD
Next week will feature UO playing two dual matches on the road. The Ducks will travel to Portland for a re-match on Tuesday. Oregon then will play Washington on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Alki Beach in Seattle. The contest against the Huskies will wrap up the regular season.
