Ducks Fall in Four to No. 17 Penn State

Saturday, October 18

Eugene, OR

7:30 PM

University of Oregon

12-6,3-5Big Ten

Penn State

11-7,5-3Big Ten

Penn St.

Oregon

10/18/25 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Season-high 3,235 fans in attendance at Matthew Knight Arena.

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon volleyball team saved a pair of match points but ultimately fell to No. 17 Penn State in four hard-fought sets Saturday night at Matthew Knight Arena. Alanah Clemente posted 23 kills for a second time in as many days and the Ducks rang up another nine aces in the losing effort. With the setback, Oregon is now 12-6 overall with a 3-5 tally in Big Ten play.

The Nittany Lions won the match 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 27-25 in the ninth all-time meeting between the two programs but just the second played in Eugene.

"We're a couple points away," head coach Trent Kersten said following the match. "It's not like a moral victory. We want to win. We're not hiding from that fact but we're trending in a really good direction right now and I just hope we can keep it going.

"That's not to say we're not going to hit another bump in the road next week or this or that but we're gonna have belief that we're going to get it going ahead and see how good we can be Wednesday (at UCLA)."

Saturday's match was played in front of a season-high 3,235 fans inside Matthew Knight Arena.

Clemente, once again efficient with a .308 hitting percentage, was joined in double digits by Valentina Vaulet who put away 10 kills. Grad transfer Sophia Meyers had nine kills to go along with a match-high and season-best 15 digs. Iva Sucurovic contributed six kills, four blocks and three aces.

Defensively, freshman libero Reese Sheppard—in her second start as full-time libero—had 12 digs and added six assists and three aces of her own. Fellow freshman Natalie Fukumoto was also key in out-of-system play with five assists.

How It Happened: In a fourth set that featured 10 ties and six lead changes, Penn State (11-7, 5-3 B1G) rattled off a quick two in a row to break a 22-all tie and arrive at match point. Out of a UO timeout, the Ducks responded with back-to-back kills from Meyers and Sucurovic to pull even, and then went ahead 25-24 on the final kill of the night from Clemente.

However, the visitors scored the last three points of the night and on their third match point, got an ace from Martin that ticked off the top of the tape before falling to the floor.

Both offenses were hot to start the match, hitting over .300 in the first set including a .559 figure for the Nittany Lions. Penn State scored three in a row for a 15-14 lead into the media timeout and never trailed for the remainder of the set. Clemente fought off a set point but Martin ended the next rally—and set—with a kill.

Martin had 10 kills in the first for Penn State with Clemente not far behind with eight for the Ducks.

Oregon led throughout the second frame, taking a quick 2-0 lead with back-to-back kills from Clemente. The lead grew to 12-7 after consecutive kills from Clemente and Sucurovic which caused Penn State into a timeout. The Ducks took their largest lead of the set at 22-16 thanks to a Meyers' kill, her lone tally of the set.

The defending national champions fought back with a 6-1 run to pull to within one—UO leading 23-22. Meyers and Sucurovic teamed up for a block out of an Oregon huddle to gift their team a couple of set points. Martin killed off the first with her 15^th kill of the match but Vaulet squared the match at one set apiece with a kill from the left side.

Sheppard dialed up two of her aces early in the third for a 3-1 lead but Penn State steadied to eventually take a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. The Ducks' deficit grew to five with PSU up 18-13 before putting together a four-point surge to pull to within a single swing. The score was tied at 19-19 after another kill from Clemente.

The score was tied three more times down the stretch, lastly at 23-all after Clemente put the ball down again. The freshman opposite accounted for three of the Ducks' last five points in the set. The final two points of the third, however, went to Penn State with kills from Martin and middle Caroline Jurevicius.

Jurevicius and fellow PSU middle Maggie Mendelson combined for 23 kills.

Notable: Ninth match of the season with eight or more aces, six of those during Big Ten play … team is third in the Big Ten with 120 aces entering Sunday's slate of matches … Clemente averaged 6.75 points per set, 5.75 kills per set (.323 hitting pct) this weekend.

Up Next: Oregon travels to No. 23 UCLA for a midweek road match Wednesday evening on the Big Ten Network. The Ducks are back home Sunday, Oct. 26, to host ninth-ranked Wisconsin (1 p.m., B1G+).

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