UO release – EUGENE, Ore. – After posting 13.0 total blocks in wins over No. 24 USC and Oregon State, senior Kara McGhee has been named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. This marks the first Pac-12 honor for McGhee, and third of her career with two Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week selections during her career at Baylor. The San Antonio, Texas, native averaged 1.86 blocks per set in the Ducks’ final two matches of the regular season. She registered seven blocks in a four-set win against No. 24 USC on Senior Day and followed with six blocks in the team’s sweep at Oregon State, the 11th and 12th outings of the season with at least six blocks. Collectively, McGhee and the Ducks held USC and Oregon State to a combined .139 hitting percentage last week. The UO senior added 13 kills and accounted for 3.07 points per set in the two victories. McGhee enters the postseason ranked fifth in the Pac-12 with 1.25 blocks per set and has moved into second on the NCAA active career leaders list (667). Oregon (26-5) earned a No. 2 seed in the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship and will host Southeastern Louisiana in Thursday’s first-round match at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks also welcome Iowa State and Hawai’i to Eugene for the opening weekend of the national tournament.
