No. 3 Oregon volleyball upsets No. 2 Nebraska, advances to NCAA Elite Eight
The No. 3 ranked Oregon Ducks volleyball team made magic happen in their five-set upset victory (14-25, 26-24, 22-25, 32-30 and 15-11) over No. 2 ranked Nebraska (26-6, 16-4 Big Ten) in the third-round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday morning.
The win clinched Oregon (26-5, 17-3 PAC-12) its third NCAA Regional Final appearance in program history and first since 2018.
Oregon freshman outside hitter Mimi Colyer led the match in kills (26), attacks (71) and points (28.5).
Also contributing for the Ducks was redshirt junior middle blocker Karson Bacon, who led in hitting (.417). Junior libero Georgia Murphy led with 21 digs and redshirt junior setter Hannah Pukis led with 57 assists.
The Ducks and the Huskers entered the match at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., as familiar foes.
In 2018, Nebraska swept Oregon in three sets, knocking the Ducks out in the Elite Eight round, while six years prior, Oregon defeated the Huskers in four sets in the Elite Eight.
With the competition evenly matched, Nebraska jumped ahead with an early 2-1 set lead.
However, Oregon wouldn't go down without a fight with a nail-biter 12-point rally in the fourth set to which the Ducks won 32-30, forcing a fifth set.
The Ducks jumped ahead 14-5 in the fifth set, but all wasn't over for the Huskers after they rallied six straight points to put them back in the match.
Sophomore middle blocker Kiari Robey sealed the victory on a kill for Oregon.
Oregon will face No. 1 Louisville (28-2, 17-1 ACC) in the Elite Eight match on Saturday at 1 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon volleyball advances to NCAA Elite Eight after win over Nebraska
