Oregon volleyball beats Arkansas to advance to the Sweet 16
Oregon volleyball is headed to the Sweet 16.
The third-seeded Ducks overcame some early inconsistencies Saturday night to beat sixth-seeded Arkansas in four sets in their second-round NCAA Tournament match before a rowdy crowd of 3,014 at Matthew Knight Arena.
Senior Brooke Nuneviller, in her last match at home, had 19 kills and star freshman Mimi Colyer had 15 kills and 10 digs for Oregon as it defeated the Razorbacks, 19-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-9.
The victory was the 15th straight for the Ducks (25-5), tying the school record previously set in 1980. It also kept them perfect at home this season.
"We've been really consistent all year and I think we've played at a high level all year," Oregon coach Matt Ulmer said. "It doesn't mean we don't have dips or have bad sets but I think for the most part this group is just very focused."
Oregon, which opened the tournament Friday night with a 25-17, 25-22, 25-15 sweep of Loyola Marymount, will next play No. 2 Nebraska in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday, where No. 1 Louisville will also be playing No. 4 Baylor in a Sweet 16 match.
More: Updated NCAA Tournament bracket
The night started slow for Oregon with a first-set loss, but finished strong with a dominant fourth-set performance. In between, the Ducks gritted out a pair of tough wins.
Nuneviller and Colyer, Oregon’s top offensive weapons, struggled out of the gate. They combined to hit -.090 in the first set as the Ducks hit .000 as a team.
"I don't think we played our game very well, it was like an imposter, we weren't us," Ulmer said of the first set. "Mimi, that was probably her worst set of volleyball since she showed up on campus. ... I loved seeing her bounce back after that."
They quickly rebounded and were game-changers the rest of the way as Nuneviller hit .406 with 15 kills in the final three sets and Colyer hit .344 with 13 kills in the final three sets.
"It was just us making better decisions," Nuneviller said.
Colyer started the Ducks’ match-sealing run in the fourth set with back-to-back kills that would spark eight straight points and put Oregon up 16-6.
The Ducks hit .613 in the final set and didn’t record an error on 31 attacks.
"Everybody was just doing their job very well," Nuneviller said. "We were all just really, really steady. The nerves were out by then and we found our rhythm."
Kiari Robey also had seven kills, seven blocks and hit .700, Gloria Mutiri had six kills, three blocks and hit .333, setter Hannah Pukis had 42 assists, 12 digs and four blocks, and libero Georgia Murphy had 19 digs.
"This team is just really going for it," Mutiri said. "I think since we started in preseason to now, we're so focused and we have a board with all our goals and we're crossing them off one by one. We've just been really disciplined and grinding the whole season and that's made us confident in each other."
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.
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Up Next
At L&N Federal Credit Union Arena, Louisville, Ky.
Sweet 16 match: No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 2 Nebraska, 8 a.m., Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks volleyball advances to NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16
