University of Oregon
UC Irvine
Ducks Roll Over UC Irvine in Season Opener, 3-0
08/25/06 | Women's Volleyball
EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Oregon Volleyball team opened its 2006 season in fine fashion, defeating UC Irvine 3-0 Friday night in the first match of the Oregon Kickoff Classic at McArthur Court.
The Ducks (1-0) used their entire roster to handle the Anteaters (0-1), 30-20, 30-16 and 30-16, and increased their non-conference record under second-year head coach Jim Moore to 12-1.
“Irvine gave us 16 points in that first game and allowed us to relax,” Moore said.
Sophomore Mira Djuric had match-highs of 18.0 points, 15 kills and a .565 hitting percentage to pace the UO attack. Freshman middle blocker Neticia Enesi also had a big night, racking up 14.5 points on nine kills, four service aces and two total blocks.
“I was pretty nervous, but I used that positively,” Enesi said. “It was a good win for the team.”
Oregon used a different setter in each game, going with senior Heather Madison in Game 1 followed by freshmen Nevena Djordjevic and Lindsey Stone, respectively. Djordjevic had a team-high 15 assists in her Duck debut.
“We were happy to play all three setters and they all played well,” Moore said.
On the defensive front, the Ducks held UCI to a .052 attack percentage and had the edge on the block with 13.0 to 1.0. Senior Kristen Bitter led the way with three solos and five total blocks.
“We came out with a lot of fresh talent and played well for the first game,” Bitter said.
Next up for Oregon is intrastate rival Portland State in the tournament finale on Sunday at 2 p.m. UC Irvine plays PSU on Saturday at 4 p.m.
