Ducks to Open Pac-12 Championship Thursday Against Utah

EUGENE, Ore. - The Ducks will be in Los Angeles this weekend for the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championship as they aim to pick up their first ever win in the fourth year of the conference tournament.

Oregon (4-9-1), the No. 9 seed, will open the Pac-12 Championship on Thursday at 9 a.m. against No. 8 seed Utah. The Ducks are looking to break through with a win after falling to the Utes in the opening round in each of the last two seasons.

The winner will go on to face No. 1 UCLA at 12 p.m. on Thursday, while the loser will take on either No. 2 seed USC or No. 7 seed Washington at 4:30 p.m. in the contender's bracket. The entirety of the Pac-12 Championship will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network.

DUCKS DEFEAT PACIFIC FOR PROGRAM MILESTONE
The Ducks took down Pacific, 4-1, in their regular season finale on April 13 to lock up their fourth win of the year. It is the first time in the young history of the beach volleyball program that Oregon has reached four wins, and the Ducks will look to add to that number this week in Los Angeles. Oregon won on No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 to end the regular season on a high note.

SEASON OF FIRSTS INCLUDES FIRST-EVER TIE
Due to an injury that suspended play on the No. 2 court in Oregon's second match against UC Davis on April 12, the Ducks recorded their first ever tie, 2-2. UO won on No. 1 and No. 4, but the Aggies pulled out courts three and five to finish the day in a tie.

DUCKS BEAT PORTLAND IN FIRST EVER HOME MATCH
Playing a home match in Eugene for the first time in program history, the Ducks pulled out a 4-1 win over Portland on April 6 in front of their home fans at Amazon Park. Oregon picked up wins at the No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 courts to secure the dual match victory. The Ducks also honored their four seniors - Lauren Page, August Raskie, Maddy Silberger-Franek and Lindsey Vander Weide - for their contributions to the program.

NUNEVILLER, VANDER WEIDE REWRITE UO RECORD BOOK
The Ducks' No. 1 duo of FR Brooke Nuneviller and SR Lindsey Vander Weide have enjoyed the most successful season in program history so far in 2019. The pair is 10-4 on the year, breaking the UO single-season and career records for wins by a pair. The duo enters the Pac-12 Championship on a six-match winning streak, also a program record. Three of Nuneviller and Vander Weide's four losses have come against top-15 teams, and they have wins over the top pairs from No. 12 Stanford, No. 14 Arizona and No. 9 Long Beach State. Vander Weide is also Oregon's all-time individual wins leader with 19 in her career.

HARRER PROMOTED TO FULL-TIME ASSISTANT
After serving as the volunteer assistant coach in 2018, HC Matt Ulmer promoted Janice Harrer to the role of full-time assistant as he continues to build up Oregon's beach program. A 2012 inductee into the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame, Harrer brings more than 15 years of professional beach volleyball experience to the Ducks. Said Ulmer: "The addition of Janice to our program has been truly impactful. She teaches and works with unbelievable passion and it's contagious to our student-athletes. Janice is one of the most successful beach volleyball players of all time and our players have benefited from her experiences both intellectually and tactically. Bringing Janice on board full time is a very important step to the future of our program."

DUCKS ADD BEACH-ONLY RECRUITS TO ROSTER
The Ducks recruited multiple beach-only players to join the student-athletes who cross over from the indoor squad as the UO beach program continues to evolve. The Ducks added freshmen Ally Haden, Emily Mattoon, Nicole Villamil and Carly Wallace to join returners Josie Cole (sophomore) and Maddy Silberger-Franek, and those six have been working with Harrer since the fall in preparation for the 2019 season. "I have been impressed with the amount of growth they have shown as well as their work ethic.," said Ulmer. "They are putting in the time and energy to become successful student-athletes."

ELITE DUCKS LOOK TO CARRY SUCCESS TO THE SAND
Coming off one of the best indoor seasons in program history, seven student-athletes from the Ducks' Elite Eight squad are on the 2019 roster. Crossing over from the hardwood are AVCA indoor all-Americans Ronika Stone (2nd), August Raskie (3rd), Lindsey Vander Weide (3rd), Brooke Nuneviller (HM) and Willow Johnson (HM), as well as SR Lauren Page and RSO Brooke Van Sickle. Nuneviller was a tremendous beach player in high school and will likely team with Vander Weide as the team's top pair, and Stone is five wins away from being Oregon's all-time beach leader. Johnson will miss the beach season after sustaining an injury, and Van Sickle likely won't see action either as she recovers from surgery. Also joining the 2019 squad is FR Elise Ferreira, the daughter of former UO coach Carl Ferreira who will be a true freshman setter for the Ducks in the fall.

PROGRAM HISTORY
2019 marks the sixth season of Oregon beach volleyball. The Ducks are 15-52-1 all-time and are coming off a 2-10 season in 2018.