Ducks Play Penn State in Top-20 Matchup - University of Oregon Athletics

EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 10 Oregon volleyball team is on the road this weekend for a back-to-back test beginning Friday at 16^th-ranked Penn State (4 p.m. PT, B1G+). The road trip continues Saturday at 4 p.m. PT against Ohio State. The Ducks, winners of seven in a row, are 16-2 this season with a 7-1 mark in Big Ten play.

Series History vs Penn State
Oregon and Penn State will play for the 10^th time when the two teams meet Friday inside Rec Hall. The Ducks are looking for their first win against Penn State as Big Ten foes, and the program's first road win in the series since 2011. Oregon's last win against the Nittany Lions came in 2021, a straight-set victory in Eugene. Penn State leads the all-time series, 6-3.

Series History vs Ohio State
Saturday will be the ninth meeting between Oregon and Ohio State. The Ducks own a 7-1 lead in the all-time series including two wins since joining the Big Ten. Oregon is 2-0 against the Buckeyes in Columbus. Both team will be coming off a Friday match with the Ducks having played at Penn State and Ohio State having hosted Indiana.

Steady Climb
The Ducks check in at No. 10 in the Oct. 19 release of the AVCA rankings. This marks the team's seventh-consecutive week moving up the coaches poll, and Oregon's first venture into the top 10 since the final poll of the 2024 season. The Ducks also entered the week at No. 7 in the RPI and were 10^th in the initial release (Oct. 17) of the committee's top 16.

Last Time Out
Sjakkie Donkers and Alanah Clemente combined for 37 kills in Oregon's four-set win over Rutgers which extended the team's winning streak to seven. The Ducks hit .390 in the win, their second-highest figure of the season, while holding Rutgers to a season-low .068 offensive mark. Donkers (20 kills, 11 digs) and Marina Crownover (47 assists, 11 digs) each turned in double-double performances.

Killing It
Oregon enters the week leading the Big Ten and seventh in the NCAA with 14.19 kills per set, and is the only team in the Big Ten that has three players averaging more than three kills per set: Sjakkie Donkers (3.78 k/s), Alanah Clemente (3.35) and Valentina Vaulet (3.07). The team is also 13^th nationally at 13.09 assists per set; individually, setter Marina Crownover is ninth in the Big Ten with 10.30 assists per set.

Donkers and Clemente are up to 4.21 and 3.72 kills per set, respectively, during league play. Donkers is hitting .293 against Big Ten opponents while Clemente is hitting .349 in conference matches. Crownover is fifth in the Big Ten with 10.82 assists per set in conference play.

Active Ace
Senior Valentina Vaulet has 181 career service aces, second most among active NCAA Division I players. She trails only Autumn Martinez-Robinson (183) of George Mason and sits just ahead of Olivia Babcock (180) of Pitt. Vaulet has a team-high 26 aces this season, good for eighth in the Big Ten.

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