University of Oregon
22-11
UCLA
23-10
Bruins End Ducks Season In Sweet 16
12/07/07 | Women's Volleyball
STANFORD,
Playing in the Sweet 16 for the first time in the program's history, Oregon failed to mount a second straight 0-2 comeback in the tourney, falling in four (23-30, 19-30, 30-28, 24-30) to the Bruins.
"We needed more life; we needed to dig balls for sure," Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. "UCLA is a great defensive team, they are going to dig more balls than we do. I am incredibly proud of these kids to come back and fight, they have wonderful character, but we can't keep going down 0-2 and expect to come back and win the match
UCLA (23-10) now advances to the
Elite 8, ending
Down 0-2 at the break, the Ducks
came out of intermission firing on all cylinders, taking an early 10-6 lead in
game three. The game was then tied at 15-15, but the Bruins responded to take a
25-21 a lead that looked as if it would be too much for
But head coach Jim Moore had an answer. He inserted junior Marija Milosevic into the lineup, sparking a 9-3 run to end game three in the Ducks favor, 30-28. Junior Gorana Maricic ended the game with a kill that clipped the net and dropped in front of a pair of helpless UCLA blockers.
“Our
issue the entire year is where our focus is," Moore said. "These are wonderful kids,
they are overachievers and they want to do anything they can to win.
When they are not, they beat themselves up pretty hard. Our focus has
been the play behind us instead of the play in front of us.”
Game four was another barnburner.
Maricic led all players with 30 kills against UCLA, hitting the benchmark for the third time this season. The AVCA All-Region selection's 14 digs gave her the 14th double-double of her season.
Milosevic set season highs with eight kills (.438) and seven digs in her limited action in games three and four.
Freshman Heather Meyers was the only other Duck to reach double-figures, finishing her night with 13 kills.
UCLA had a quartet of hitters reach double figures, led by Ali Daley's 15 kills. Kaitlin Sather and Dicey McGraw added 13 each, while Rachell Johnson chipped in 12.
While the Bruins put together a balanced attack, it was their defense that continuously halted the Ducks.
UCLA totaled 92 digs on
“I
am very proud of how hard everyone has worked to get here," Swoboda said. "Last year we
made it to the first round of NCAA Tournament and to make it to the
Sweet Sixteen this year was awesome. I am looking forward to next year.”
In game one, UCLA hit .385, led by Sather's six kills. The Ducks were limited to a .200 attacking percentage, as three players finished with negative numbers, while Maricic spurred the attack with nine kills (.562).
QUICK QUACKS: Oregon is now 3-6 all-time at the NCAA tournament after appearances in 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 2006 and 2007)...head coach Jim Moore is 2-2 at the tourney with Oregon and 22-11 during the postseason in his 19-year coaching career...UCLA now leads the all-time series with Oregon 47-2...Katie Swoboda's 586 digs this season sets a new Oregon single-season record...her average of 5.32 digs per game also set a new single-season record...the Ducks 22 wins this season was the most for the program since 1986 and their 9-9 record in the Pac-10 was their best mark since 1989...Gorana Maricic set three new single-season records with 679.5 total points, 5.5 kills per game and 6.07 points per game...Heather Meyers finished the year with a .347 attacking percentage, the second best clip in single-season history.
