EUGENE, Ore. – Despite nearly taking a set from the 18th-ranked Oregon Ducks, the Utah Valley University volleyball team dropped its Oregon Classic opener in straight sets to the Pac-12 Ducks on Friday afternoon at Matthew Night Arena in Eugene (16-25, 23-25, 12-25). 
 
UVU falls to 2-3 on the young season with the setback, while UO improves to 2-2 with the victory. 

"There's no question that we could've done better and we should've. We had a very slow start for whatever reason, and I didn't really feel like we started to compete until late in the first set. We then put ourselves in a great situation in that second set, and after a call didn't go in our favor, ended up falling short," head UVU coach Sam Atoa said. "Nevertheless I felt like our girls gave a good effort, but we just got outplayed in that third set." 
 
Despite falling in straight sets, both sophomore Kristen Allred and freshman Kazna Tarawhiti topped double figures in kills for the Wolverines as they finished with 11 and 10, respectively. Junior and Wilsonville, Oregon, native Madi Wardle too had a nice showing for UVU by recording her second double-double of the season with team-high tallies of 15 assists and 15 digs, while freshman Kenzie Guimont led the way at the net with three blocks.
 
The nationally ranked Ducks were the first to get things going in the opening set, as they jumped out to a 13-6 advantage following a 5-0 run. UVU then answered back with consecutive kills from Allred to make it a five-point score at 13-8. With Oregon holding to an 18-11 lead, the Wolverines then struck back by scoring three of the next four points to make it 19-14. Junior Jasmine Niutupuivaha led the spurt for UVU with a block and a kill. UO responded, however, by scoring six of the next eight points to take the opening set by a score of 25-16. 
 
In a much tighter contested second set that featured a total 15 ties and nine lead changes, the Wolverines were the first to take a two-point advantage at 14-12 following a 3-0 spurt. With UVU still holding to a two-point lead at 17-15 following an Allred kill, UO then struck back with a trio of consecutive points to take an 18-17 lead of its own. Utah Valley then answered back with a kill from freshman Kaili Downs and an Allred ace, but Oregon again answered with three straight points to again take a two-point advantage at 21-19. With the Ducks later holding a 23-20 advantage, UVU reeled off a trio of consecutive points to again deadlock the score at 23-23. Guimont and Downs as well as Guimont and Tarawhiti both recorded blocks during the Utah Valley run, and sophomore Jaysa Funk Stratton also buried home an ace. With the pressure on, the defending NCAA Tournament qualifying Ducks responded with back-to-back points to put the second-set away, 25-23, and take a 2-0 lead in the match. 
 
UVU again stayed right with the Ducks in the early stages of the third set, as the game featured a total of six ties. With the Wolverines holding to an 8-7 lead, UO managed to drive home four straight points to take an 11-8 advantage. UVU then pulled to within two at 12-10 following a Niutupuivaha kill and again within three at 14-11 following an Oregon attack error, but the Ducks would go on to show why they are a top-20 opponent by reeling off a decisive 11-1 run to finish off the sweep.
 
Willow Johnson paced the Ducks in the contest with 14 kills, a .565 hitting percentage and six blocks, while Taylor Borup took notched double figures in kills with 11. Setter August Raskie added a double-double for UO with a match-high 38 assists and 10 digs.  
 
The Wolverines will continue play the Oregon Classic in Eugene with a Friday evening contest against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT. UVU will then close the weekend tournament by taking on Long Beach State of the Big West Conference on Saturday at noon MT/11 a.m. PT. Following the weekend tournament, Utah Valley will return to Orem to host in-state foe Utah State on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. MT.  

"We'll have to regroup, get ourselves back out there and try to play better volleyball tonight. I expect us to do that," Atoa added. "I felt like we learned a lot, and if we can apply what we learned than we should be in good shape."