Four days after a five set thriller against No. 22 Washington State, No. 12 Oregon found themselves in a similar predicament, but this time there was a different outcome.

Oregon (9-4) was upset by the  No. 24 Arizona Wildcats (13-2) 3-2 (25-23, 16-25, 25-23, 22-25, 16-14) Friday. The Wildcats did beat the Ducks but Oregon led the match in all major statistical categories including total points.

“We outscored them for the match and we lose, that’s always hard to swallow,” head coach Matt Ulmer said.

Arizona’s offense jumped out to a dominate start in set one, and Oregon looked like they were not up to the task.

The Ducks gained their composure, eventually tying set one after a 5-0 run to lead 21-19. Arizona responded with a 3-0 run of its own to eventually win set one.

Set two was all Oregon. The Ducks hit .429 with 21 kills, which was a match high for both teams. Oregon did not only improve on its hitting but also decreased its number of errors and improved its passing. The Ducks would take set two 25-16.

“I thought we passed well and when we pass well we have so many options,” Ulmer said about Oregon’s successful set two.

The passing and setting for Oregon wasn’t always up to par as senior setter August Raskie and freshman libero Brooke Nuneviller seemed to have struggles.

“Nuneviller was trying to hard and she was kinda stressing herself out when it came to serve receive,” Ulmer said. “This was August’s worst passing performance of the season.”

Set three was a tight one that saw 12 ties and six lead changes. Oregon led the set late, but mistakes cost the Ducks and put Arizona up 2-1.

Oregon won set four despite being down late.  The Ducks were able to claw their way back and win on a kill by Willow Johnson, who hit .367 throughout the match.

“We were losing by a lot in fourth set, we just refused to lose that set,” freshman libero Brooke Nuneviller told KWVA.

Despite a late comeback in the fifth set, the Ducks were unable to climb out of an early deficit and would drop the set and the match.

The Ducks seemed unable to contain senior outside hitter Kendra Dahlke who hit .253 and was credited with 28 points.

Lindsey Vander Weide led the Ducks in kills (17), Raskie led in assists (61), Nuneviller led in digs (23) and Ronika Stone led the team in blocks (six).

Oregon will look to bounce back as they take on Arizona State on Sunday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m., in the Stomp Out for Cancer match at Matthew Knight Arena.

Follow Gabriel Ornelas on Twitter @gabe_ornelas

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