For a brief moment, it looked like an Oregon rally.
The Ducks were up 17-14, attempting to push the match into a fourth set after dropping the first two.
But back-to-back kills from Arizona State’s Alyse Ford propelled the set to a tie at 19 and after winning a ball challenge, the Sun Devils took ahold of the reins and won the set, costing the Ducks any chance at redemption.
“It was rough, pretty much everything was rough,” Oregon head coach Matt Ulmer said. “I thought we were out of control, kind of emotionally I thought we were out of control. All of a sudden, we forgot our jobs, what we were supposed to do. [We] got really undisciplined, got really sloppy and those things are contagious.”
Arizona State (12-4, Pac-12 3-1) swept the No. 12 Ducks 3-0 and broke Oregon’s six-match winning streak against the Sun Devils Sunday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena.
From the beginning of set one, Oregon (9-5, Pac-12 2-2) became quickly plagued with errors and bad plays. The Ducks recorded 18 attack errors and tied their third-highest number of service errors (7) of the season.
“We just really needed to be dependable players today,” Ulmer said. “This was like the worst of it today. That’s how bad we can be. I think we saw our low today. They gave us every chance, they gave us opportunities and we just gave them more.”
In set one, the Ducks recorded 13 kills to ASU’s 11 and setter August Raskie led both teams with 11 assists amid the 25-23 loss.
That’s where the Oregon energy stopped.
The Ducks couldn’t find a lead in the second set. Arizona State held a five-point lead twice and took the set 25-22.
Oregon’s 11-6 lead in the third set was its biggest of the night, but ASU took advantage of additional Oregon errors and a winning challenge to complete the sweep with a 25-22 third set win.
Middle blocker Ronika Stone carried Oregon with 13 kills. Seniors Lindsey Vander Weide and Raskie continued their team-leading double-double count, both recording their seventh of the season. Vander Weide totaled 11 kills and 11 digs, and Raskie had a team-leading 37 assists and 13 digs.
Yet, it was the upperclassmen that left Ulmer disappointed. With both Stone and Vander Weide making four errors each and with three players recording negative hitting percentages — Ulmer considered bringing in freshmen in an attempt to save the match.
“If I take a redshirt off of Karson [Bacon] or Chandlar [Duff], I’m going with them,” Ulmer said. “If Kylie [Robinson] becomes our setter, then that’s our setter. We’re talking about seniors, so I think that’s probably the most disappointing part is that our seniors are kind of backing down.”
Despite the loss, one Duck remained smiling throughout the match — Oregon’s captain, 8-year-old Danielle Bixby.
Bixby, a Eugene-native, has been battling a rare form of cancer, Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, for the past year. She completed her final round of chemo on Friday.
The Duck hugs eight-year-old Danielle Bixby to congradulate her on completing chemotherapy for Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. Oregon Ducks Volleyball takes on Arizona State at Matthew Knight Arena on Sept. 30, 2018. (Sarah Northrop/Emerald)
“Danielle and her family are fantastic, and we let them down today and that’s very frustrating,” Ulmer said. “But she doesn’t know that. She goes and gets hugs and kisses from all the team, and that’s what this is all about. … Ultimately, in college sports, this is the absolute best part about being a coach at Oregon or being a student-athlete at Oregon, it’s the chance to reach out to the community and get to make a difference in somebody’s life.”
Oregon will travel on its first Pac-12 road trip of the season to Los Angeles, where the Ducks will compete in two top-20 match ups against No. 18 UCLA on Friday and No. 13 USC on Sunday.
Follow Maggie Vanoni on Twitter @maggie_vanoni
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