Oregon Ducks and Michigan Wolverines On Similar Paths

The Oregon Ducks Volleyball team advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and meet Michigan Friday.

Ronika Stona and Lindsey Vander Weide led the Oregon Ducks on Thursday against Miami(Ohio) winning 3 sets to 1. The challenge for Jim Moore’s Road Warriors gets steep against the Wolverines who have lost just two games at home all season.

On the flipside, the Oregon Ducks have lost two games on the road in Pac-12 play, but have a 1-0 advantage in Neutral site games. Both teams are very closely ranked with the Ducks coming in at 19, Michigan at 17.

"We’ve been in these situations a lot when we don’t start as fast as we want to, so I think that’s something we’ve worked on the entire year. But I think that finish definitely gave us momentum going into the second set. We just have to start strongerLindsey Vander Weide on Slow Starts"

History-wise the Oregon Ducks have the advantage beating Michigan two seasons ago. The two Wolverine losses this season were to number one ranked teams(at the time) in Nebraska and Wisconsin during Big Ten play.

Abbi Cole and MacKenzie Welsh lead Michigan. Cole had had double digit kills in 16 games this season. Welsh has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times this season and tallied 73 assists in a loss to Minnesota.

Next: Willie Taggart Has What Oregon Is Looking For

The Oregon Ducks and Michigan Wolverines will see first serve at 4:30pm Pacific Time.