University of Oregon
16-11, 9-10Pac-12
USC
22-8, 14-5Pac-12
Ducks Drop Home Finale to No. 13 USC
11/22/17 | Women's Volleyball
The Oregon volleyball team was unable to get back on the winning track on Wednesday afternoon as the No. 24 Ducks fell to No. 13 USC in four sets, 25-19, 25-16, 19-25, 25-17
EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon volleyball team was unable to get back on the winning track on Wednesday afternoon as the No. 24 Ducks fell to No. 13 USC in four sets, 25-19, 25-16, 19-25, 25-17, in front of 1,602 on senior day in Matthew Knight Arena.
How it Happened: USC (22-8, 14-5 Pac-12) led the entire first set aside from a pair of early ties, jumping out to a 14-8 lead. The Ducks (16-11, 9-10 Pac-12) used a pair of scoring runs to get within two, 20-18, but the Trojans scored four straight and five of the final six points of the frame to win, 25-19. The Oregon offense flowed through Taylor Agost, who put down seven kills in the first set to kick off her senior day.
The Ducks held a 9-8 lead in the second when USC ripped off five straight to ignite a 10-2 run and take a seven-point advantage, 18-11. Oregon was unable to get closer than five points from there as USC hit .293 in the frame to UO's .152 to take a 2-0 lead into intermission.
Trailing 11-10 in the third, Oregon scored three points in a row to move ahead. After USC rallied back to 18-18, the Ducks put down five straight kills and seven kills in eight points, with three by Jolie Rasmussen and two by Agost, to run away with the set, 25-19, and force a fourth frame. Oregon enjoyed its best offensive set of the night, hitting .390 as a team.
USC opened up a 5-1 lead to start the fourth, and then broke a 7-7 tie with a pair of 3-0 scoring runs to take an 18-12 lead. Oregon got within five, 20-15, but the Trojans scored four of the final five points and hit .462 in the final set to win the match.
Who Stood Out: Agost finished with a team-high 19 kills in her final home match, but was the only Duck in double figures. Willow Johnson put down nine and played well late in the match, and Lauren Page and Lindsey Vander Weide each had seven. Maggie Scott also played well on her senior day with 24 assists and 12 digs for her seventh double-double, as did Alex Hojnar with a team-best 14 digs. USC finished the match hitting .312 to Oregon's .197.
What it Means: Now 9-10 in Pac-12 play, the Ducks will go to Corvallis on Friday looking for a win to finish the season at .500 in conference action and establish some momentum entering the NCAA Tournament.
Quotable: Matt Ulmer, Head Coach
On winning set three after being down 2-0…
"I challenged them pretty hard in the locker room and I liked our response. I thought Lindsey did a really good job in serve receive in the third and fourth sets and Alex did a really good job. If we do that, we have great athletes that we can get the ball to, we can move it around and that's really where we're good."
On where the team is at right now…
"We're constantly playing from behind and just really making it difficult on ourselves to be successful. But I really liked our effort in the third set and that should be how we play all the time and until we find that, we're just going to keep struggling."
Taylor Agost, Senior
On her experience at Oregon…
"It's been awesome. Coming to Oregon was outside my comfort zone and that's why I chose to do it. So coming here and finishing the way I finished and not just being a different player but a different person is the best part. So I'm just very thankful."
Notable: Agost, Scott, Hojnar and Marine Hall-Poirier were honored before the match for senior day … The Ducks finish 11-5 at home in the regular season … Oregon has now lost four straight matches, its longest losing streak of the season … Oregon hit under .200 for just the sixth time this season.
Up Next: The Ducks will close out the regular season at Oregon State on Friday (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
