EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 12-ranked Utah Utes (17-5, 8-3) took No. 15-ranked Oregon (14-5, 7-4) to four sets on the road, but the Ducks came away with the victory (18-25, 25-21, 23-25, 22-25) Wednesday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
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Carly Trueman opened the match with a kill for the Utes, but Oregon countered winning 10 of the next 12 points to take a 10-3 lead. A 5-1 run would get Utah back within three points, but the Ducks again went on a run, this time winning seven of the next nine points to take an 18-10 lead, and Utah was forced to call its final timeout of the frame. Utah would get a pair of kills from
Dani Barton in its late 8-3 run, but Oregon capped off the frame winning the final three points to take the set 25-18.
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Adora Anae and
Tawnee Luafalemana combined for eight kills and a pair of blocks as Utah notched things up after taking the second set, 25-21. After trading points with the Ducks,
Shannon Scully managed to register a kill and then an ace to force Oregon to call timeout, down 11-7. The Ducks countered with a 5-1 run to tie the frame at 12-12, and Utah came back with a 7-2 run to go up 19-14. Following three kills and a block from
Berkeley Oblad, the Utes led 24-18, but a 3-0 run forced the Utes to call a timeout up set-point.
Kenzie Koerber would send the match into the intermission though, following her third kill of the evening.
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Both teams virtually traded points through the first half the of the set, but Oregon was ahead by a point and up 15-14, at the media timeout. Oregon would use a 4-1 run out of the break to go up 19-15 and force Utah to call a timeout. Not long after, a 4-2 run forced the Utes to call another timeout, down 23-17. A block from Koerber would ignite a 6-1 run, which forced Oregon to call both of its timeouts and see its lead down to just a point at 24-23. The Ducks would take the frame though when Ronika Stone's kill gave the home team the set, 25-23.
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An early 4-1 run, which included an ace and a block from Oblad, would give Utah a 7-6 lead, but Oregon came back to win six of the next eight points and take a 12-9 lead. Both teams would trade points to the media timeout, but it was Oregon again leading at the break, up 15-12. Oregon's 5-0 run would end in a service error and Utah countered with a 6-1 run to get back within two points of the Ducks, down 21-19 when Oregon called timeout. UO won three of the next four points to go up match-point, but the Utes came back with consecutive points to make it 24-22. Out of a timeout, Stone connected on her 11
th kill of the match to give the Ducks the set, 25-22.
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Utah will close out this week's action on Friday in a road contest at Oregon State. First serve is set for 6 p.m. PT at Gill Coliseum.
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MATCH NOTES
- The Utes snapped a six-match road winning streak with the loss. It also marked Utah's first road loss in Pac-12 Conference play this season.
- Brianna Doehrmann finished with 20 digs, giving her 10+ digs for the ninth straight match. She has tallied at least 20 digs in two the last three matches.
- Koerber notched double-digit kills for just the second time this season, totaling 10 kills on the evening.
- Oblad led the Utes in kills for the first time this season, ending the match with 13 kills and a team-best .550 hitting percentage.
- Anae had 12 kills and 14 digs for her 11th double-double of the season.
- Bailey Choy led the Utes with 35 assists on the evening. Camryn Machado followed with 19 assists in the match.
- Scully registered two of Utah's four service aces. Obald and Doehrmann both had one service ace each.
- Luafalemana led the Utes with four total blocks.
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