The Oregon volleyball team continued its two week road trip with a swing through Brooklyn, New York and Washington D.C. The Ducks defeated LIU-Brooklyn 3-1 on Monday evening then came from behind to remain perfect on the season with a 3-2 win over George Washington on Tuesday night.
Oregon 3 – LIU-Broklyn 1
Oregon’s tremendous team depth showed in the victory over LIU-Brooklyn (25-9, 25-10, 24-26, 25-17) as 13 Ducks saw action in the match. Senior Martenne Bettendorf, Oregon’s All-American, was the only player not to play. Bettendorf is nursing an ankle injury but a sophomore stepped up big in her replacement.
Taylor Agost had a career-high 16 kills while hitting .520 in the match. Frankie Shebby added 15 kills while Lindsey Vander Weide continued her stellar start to the season with 10 kills.
The Ducks jumped all over the Blackbirds in the first and second sets, hitting at an incredible efficiency that never allowed LIU-Brooklyn to get solid footing in their home gym. Oregon hit .500 in the first set and backed that up with a .429 percentage in the second set.
The Blackbirds battled back in the third set when they held on for a 26-24 victory that saw Oregon commit nine hitting errors en route to a .100 hitting percentage.
Oregon rebounded with 16 team kills in the fourth set to earn the victory.
Amanda Benson led the Ducks with 12 kills while Maggie Scott dished out 22 assists and August Raskie added 17 more.
Oregon 3 – George Washington 2
The Ducks passed their stingiest test of the year when they came back from an 0-2 deficit to win the next three sets and defeat George Washington 3-2 (20-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-15 and 15-11). Being all the way on the east coast and in front of a very hostile crowd, the comeback victory could be a huge stepping stone for Oregon before its upcoming two matches.
Oregon looked like two different teams in sets one and two compared to sets three, four and five. In the first two sets, George Washington controlled the game by dominating the net and forcing Oregon into poor hitting percentages. The Ducks committed 15 errors in the first two sets and hit .100 in the first set and .069 in the second set.
The third set is where it all turned around for Oregon. The powerful offense found its groove and notched a season-high 20 kills to just four errors, good for a .400 hitting percentage.
That momentum continued through the fourth and fifth sets as the Ducks totaled 17 kills over the next two sets compared to just four errors. Oregon hit .316 in the fourth set and .438 in the fifth, deciding set.
Vander Weide led the squad with 15 kills while Bettendorf chipped in 13. Middle Kacey Nady kept the Colonials defense honest with 10 kills.
Scott had a season-high 48 assists while Amanda Benson added 26 digs and Chelsey Keoho added 12.
Oregon continues the road trip with four games in Texas. The first two games will be played on Friday and Saturday in Austin against Florida and Nebraska, two teams currently tied at No. 4 in the national rankings.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter: @Ryan_Kostecka