EUGENE, Ore. — As the Oregon volleyball team took the court to face then-No. 5 Nebraska before some 7,500 fans at the VERT Challenge in Florida last week, first-year UO coach Matt Ulmer sat back and took in the atmosphere.
Making his debut as head coach with the Ducks, Ulmer wanted to see how his players would handle it. As they quickly fell behind to the Cornhuskers, Ulmer held his tongue. At 4-0, he called timeout. At 10-2, he took another. It was time to loosen the reins.
With Ulmer directing traffic from the bench, the Ducks rallied back to win the first set, 25-20, sparking a four-set victory over Nebraska.