#16 Oregon Ducks Take on #3 USC and #6 UCLA this weekend: Volleyball Spotlight

This week the #16 Oregon volleyball team (12-4, 5-3) will be traveling to California to take on USC tonight and #6 UCLA tomorrow night.  Both matches are set for a 7:00PT start.  Oregon has been ranked in the top 20 (AVCA Coaches Poll) for seven consecutive weeks.  USC (13-3, 8-1) is pinned at #3 in the Coaches Poll so this will be a tough test for the Oregon women.  The Ducks are coming off of two losses, a sweep by #4 Cal and a 3 – 1 loss to #7 Stanford so they will be itching for a victory in LA.  It won’t come easy for the Ducks though, USC leads the conference in assists (14.36) and kills (15.75) in Pac-12 matches.  The fact that the Ducks won’t be playing to a home crowd doesn’t help either.

A couple of Oregon’s threats on the court that USC will be keeping their eye on are #2 Alaina Bergsma and #4 Lauren Plum.  Bergsma is a junior outside hitter and ranks second in the Pac-12 in kills per set (4.83) and Plum is a sophomore setter who ranks second in the Pac-12 in assists (11.70 per set).  On the USC side Oregon will be watching out for senior Alex Jupiter, senior Kendall Bateman and sophomore Natalie Hagglund.  Jupiter is first in aces (0.43), fourth in points (5.11) and fifth in kills (4.25) in the Pac-12.  Bateman leads the conference in assists (12.68).  Hagglund is second in the Pac-12 in digs (5.93).

USC has won their last five matches with Oregon, but tonight we’ll see if the Ducks can snap that streak.  Keep track of the matches as they happen tonight and Sunday AutzenZoo will have a recap of both matches.