The No. 14 University of Oregon Ducks and the Duke University Blue Devils volleyball teams met at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center on Friday, Sept. 20 as Duke upset Oregon, winning the second match of the Hofstra Invitational in five sets. The Blue Devils improved to 6-5 this season and the Ducks fell to 3-5.

Oregon dominated in the first set, winning 25-9. The Ducks opened up the scoring in that first set, taking the first six points and leading to 13-2 as the Blue Devils called a timeout. With the scoreboard reading 18-9, Oregon went on a 7-0 scoring run to close the first set. The Ducks posted a .538 hitting percentage in the first while keeping the Blue Devils to a negative hitting percentage.

After the first set, Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said she was disappointed about the outcome and was nervous for the rest of the match.

“I was a little anxious because I didn’t feel like we were capable,” she said. ”We just weren’t going after it. That was really disappointing to see out of our young crew.” 

However, the second set saw a much more evenly-matched competition. Oregon got out to an early lead and used a 5-1 run to put themselves up 12-10. Duke then answered back with four straight points to pull ahead, 16-12. The Blue Devils improved to 22-20, but four kills – two from senior Ronika Stone – brought the Ducks to set point, 24-22. However, Duke didn’t give up, answering with three straight points to receive their own set point. The Blue Devils lead 25-24 and eventually took the set 28-26.

“It was nice to see them come back in the second set and let [the first-set loss] go and be able to do well and rally,” Nagel said.

With their momentum back, Duke took a commanding 15-9 lead in the third set thanks to a 6-0 and then a 5-0 run. Oregon fought back, closing the gap at 21-20 until Duke earned set point at 24-22. Oregon came back to tie it 24-24 but, coming out of a timeout, Duke scored three in a row to take their second set, 28-26.

In the fourth, Duke again took an early lead, going up 14-9 until five straight points from the Ducks tied the match. Scoring five more points to Duke’s three, Oregon pulled ahead 21-18.  Thanks to two kills from freshman Morgan Lewis, the Ducks scored the remaining four points and claimed the fourth set, sending the match to a fifth and deciding set.

In the final set, Duke once again took a commanding lead, going out 9-3 as a timeout was called. The Ducks answered back with a 6-1 run, but it wasn’t enough as Duke took the fifth and final set, 15-13 and upset the No. 14 Oregon Ducks.

Duke’s winning squad is particularly young, with many underclassmen, and Nagel was excited for them to have a big win against a big school. 

“There [are] some young players [on our team] that are getting a lot of opportunities right now and it’s nice to be able to see them get one like this today,” Nagel said.

Stone led the Ducks with 17 kills and Georgia Murphy posted 14 digs on the defensive end. For the Blue Devils, freshman Gracie Johnson tallied 14 kills and sophomore Mackenzie Cole led in digs with 19. 

Image courtesy of Hofstra Athletics