The Oregon Ducks face one of the top teams in the country in Wisconsin on Thursday. Both teams enter on winning streaks and experience throughout the season has made both the Ducks and Badgers more experienced. It comes down to play makers and Wisconsin has one that has been here before in Lauren Carlini that could give Oregon fits throughout the match.
The Oregon Ducks Women’s Volleyball team has worked hard this season. When the schedule was released I expected a mix of home games against non-conference opponents, but it was the opposite. Oregon played their entire non-conference schedule on the road, and also their first two Pac-12 Conference matches before seeing a home game. In that stretch they went 9-6 on the season and played better at times. Several of those losses were against the top tier of teams in the country in Nebraska and Florida. Oregon was 5-5 at Matthew Knight Arena this season.
Against the Cornhuskers, Oregon battled and took the match as far as they could losing in 5 sets. Of all the teams in the country, Jim Moore has watched his team grow over the last month into a gritty and at times relenteless on the Defensive end to give his Offense a chance to win. It has translated from multiple players on the floor in the wrong place and not having their shots hit the floor to leaders stepping up in multiple positions to take control of the game. It has been a tough lesson that has taken the better part of a season to learn, but the Oregon Ducks are peaking at the right time.
Oregon enters the NCAA Tournament on a roll, winning four of their last five matches, the loss being against 4th ranked Washington. The Ducks also took down a Top 10 UCLA team, and have won six of their last eight first round appearances according to GoDucks.com.
The team they face, Wisconsin began Big Ten Conference play 4-4, but have a winning streak of their own reeling off 12 straight victories. Lauren Carlini leads the Badgers and has for the last few years since she was a top recruit. It will be her third run at an NCAA Title according to the Wisconsin State Journal. When it comes to experience in big moments, Carlini is one of the top performers in the Big Ten Conference and will be one to watch.
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The Oregon Ducks take on the Wisconsin Badgers Friday. Tipoff is set for 4:30pm Pacific Time. The Big Ten Network will stream that match for free online at BTN2Go.com