University of Oregon
California
Ducks Can't Close Out California, Fall 3-1
11/17/06 | Women's Volleyball
EUGENE, Ore. -- Freshman outside Hana Cutura had 28 kills and the No. 15 California Golden Bears used the momentum of a 30-16 win in the third game to defeat the Oregon Ducks 3-1, Friday night at McArthur Court.
In a match that was tense and tight throughout, the Golden Bears rebounded from a 31-29 game two loss to take the wind out of Oregon's sails with the convincing game three victory.
"If you allow California to get on a roll, they are extremely tough to beat," head coach Jim Moore said. "They are a rhythm team and in game three they found a groove and used that to their advantage."
Freshman Sonja Newcombe had a double-double, leading the team with 17 kills and finishing second in digs with 13. Sophomore Mira Djuric was close behind on the night for the Ducks, tallying 16 kills and two blocks.
Defensively, sophomore libero Katie Swoboda led the team with 27 digs. Her performance made her the first Duck to pass the 500-dig plateau in a single season, having now totaled 508 digs on the year. Setter Nevena Djordevic tallied a double-double with 29 assists and 11 digs.
On senior night for the Ducks, the three outgoing players gave the third largest crowd of the year a lot to cheer about as Kristen Bitter was second on the team with a .308 hitting percentage, Erin Little was third in kills with 14 and Heather Madison was second on the team in assists with 18.
California setter Samatha Carter had 61 assists on the Bears 72 kills and was second on the team defensively, tallying 18 digs. The defensive leader for the Bears was libero Jillian Davis, who had 27 digs on the night.
The Bears outhit the Ducks .260 to .146 on the night, tallying 72 kills to Oregon's 62.
With the loss, the Ducks fall to 17-9 on the year and 7-9 in the Pac-10, falling to sixth in the Pac-10 in the process. The Bears move into fourth place in the conference alone at 8-8 and 19-8 overall.
The Ducks return to action next weekend, still looking to cement their NCAA tournament berth while facing No. 4 USC and No. 6 UCLA.
