On Friday night, to kick off Fall Family Weekend, the No. 11 Oregon Ducks (15-3, 7-2 Big Ten) played host to the Maryland Terrapins (10-10, 1-8 Big Ten) after coming off a promising road win at Iowa last week.
The Ducks came out on top yet again, as they swept the Terrapins in three very action-heavy sets led by Mimi Colyer.
“I thought Mimi had a tremendous night,” Ulmer said. “Nice crowd. Homecoming Weekend. Lauren Plum – Hall of Fame, great night.”
Maryland took an early 6-2 lead forcing an Oregon time out. Maryland maintained the lead for a while. Oregon went on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to one. Then a 3-0 run gave Oregon a small lead, but Maryland came right back to tie it. Then the Ducks jumped ahead again with another 4-0 run. On set point, Oregon was called for a net violation, but on the very next play, the Ducks secured the first set with a kill to finish it 25-21. Mimi Colyer carried the team with seven of her 20 kills of the evening, while no one else on the team recorded more than two kills.
Oregon struck first in the second set. It remained tightly contested and was tied at 12, until Oregon scored four straight and forced a Maryland time out. The Terrapins cut into the lead immediately coming out of the time out and eventually tied it at 17. Oregon edged ahead again, but Maryland came right back and the score was tied again at 21 going into another time out. The Terrapins stormed out of that break with two kills, but the Ducks answered with two kills of their own to even it out at 23 before moving back ahead. Maryland evened it up again on set point, but Oregon responded with two straight kills to seal the set 26-24.
Colyer continued to lead the team with six kills and a .500 hitting percentage, followed by Noemie Glover who recorded four kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
“It was just cleaner volleyball overall. The score reflects the fact that it wasn’t very clean volleyball from the start and in the third we started off cleaner so we started off better,” Colyer said about the third set.
The third set opened with the same narrative as the first two, as both teams battled closely. Maryland took the early 4-1 lead, and then things took a turn. Oregon burst ahead with an 8-0 run and forced a Maryland time out. After the break, the Ducks continued their run for one more kill before Maryland finally got on the board again, but Oregon continued to carry the momentum and the lead. Maryland scored twice on match point, but the Ducks finished it off 25-17. Colyer recorded seven kills and a .500 hitting percentage, and Onye Ofoegbu had five kills and a .286 hitting percentage. (7:50 Ulmer) (5:30 players)
The Ducks come back for another match at Matthew Knight Arena this Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.