University of Oregon
13-3, 2-2
USC
8-4, 1-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USC | 17 | 18 | 16 | 0 |
| Oregon | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
No. 11 Duck VB Does it Again, Sweeps No. 4 USC
10/05/08 | Women's Volleyball
* A boxcore and play-by-play is located in the LINKS box to the right, and updated season stats are available in the link above.
EUGENE - The No. 11 UO volleyball team made it look easy with its second win vs. a top-10 team this weekend with its sweep of No. 4 USC Saturday night at McArthur Court.
The Ducks cruised to a 25-17, 25-18, 25-16 win for its first sweep vs. the Trojans since 1989.
Oregon also topped the then-No. 6 and eventual Final Four qualifier Trojans in Eugene last November, but this upset was barely that with UO combining on a .452 hitting mark - its second-highest mark of the season behind its .494 clip vs. Seattle last month.
For comparison's sake, the USC defense had limited opponents to a .131 hitting average coming into the weekend, with only one foe - No. 3 Texas - hitting +.200 (.261) its first 10 matches of the season.
However, Oregon's defense was equally deserving of credit, limiting the Women of Troy to a .090 hitting mark - its lowest of the season and outdoing its .095 mark vs. the then-No. 3 Longhorns the opening weekend. Altogether, UO has now held seven opponents under .100 this season, and five more at .200 or worse (while No. 5 UCLA managed only .205 in its loss Friday at the hands of the Ducks).
Individually for UO, sophomore outside hitter Heather Meyers hit a career-high .643 Satuday, and topped her previous best of .625 vs. Oregon State last year. Even more impressive was her unflappable confidence that revealed nothing of Friday's frustration vs. the Bruins when she hit .087 (including -.133 the first two sets).
"We felt great out there tonight," Meyers said. "Anytime you can beat two, top-10 teams that says a lot. We worked for this and played lights out again. We also did a great job of siding out and being ready to bounce back when we needed and not allowing them any major runs."
The Temecula, Calif., native Meyers also posted a team-high 11 kills with
Gorana Maricic who added a .474 hitting mark - her second-highest of the
season.
"Our chemistry is really starting to click," Maricic said. "We were prepared for this weekend, and we knew that USC could come out with extra motivation after losing last night. We kept our calm while still maintaining our intensity - something we've been working on all season. USC is a good team and had played well this year both offensively and defensively. Last year's win vs. them felt more like an upset, but this year we knew we could do it again if we played extra hard. Others might consider this an upset, but we knew we were capable. In earlier matches, we often would play well offensively or defensively, but tonight we did well on both counts."
Among other Duck heroes, junior hitter Sonja Newcombe hit +.300 for the second straight night (.357, 6 kills), and had seven digs - two shy of team leader and senior Katie Swoboda (9).
Among other stat categories, junior setter Nevena Djordjevic dumped three kills and rang up 30 assists, senior blocker Kristen Forristall had six blocks, while Maricic had four blocks and junior Neticia Enesi added three.
"We were a little sluggish early, but we kept calm, and everybody played a key part in this win," Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. "I was worried after last night's win (vs. No. 5 UCLA), that we might come out too relaxed today. We thought Heather might come alive tonight and she did. Being a left-hander who's good at hitting to various parts of the court, she can present problems to a lot of teams. We're now 2-2 in the conference and proved to ourselves that we can compete with the top teams in the conference, but this is just a start, and we have to take it one match at a time."
UO's offense was indeed balanced as all five starting hitters/blockers hit .300 or better (Meyers, .643, Forristall, .500, Maricic, .474, Newcombe, .357, Enesi, .333) - only the third time they achieved the feat this season, and first in league play after turning the trick in sweeps of Central Florida and Seattle. As a team, UO had a season-low seven hitting errors, improving on its former season best of eight vs. Seattle.
The only thing that could slow the Duck scoring attack, albeit momentarily, was a small bat that suddenly appeared before the start of the third set and flitted about the USC side of the court. However, Moore quickly came to the rescue, and approached the winged creature at midcourt which promptly landed on his clipboard. A quick towel assist by Maricic allowed Moore to cover the bat, and gently pass the swaddled creature of the night along to a student who released it outside the arena.
In the span of less than 26 hours, Oregon continued to add another chapter to the program's historic turnaround under the fourth-year Duck mentor Moore. All-time in UO history before his arrival, UO had stood 6-35 vs. USC and 1-41 vs. UCLA, but in the last five appearances against the two foes, UO is 4-1 with is only loss in that stretch a 3-1 loss in the Sweet 16 to UCLA last December.
Looking ahead, UO remains at home next weekend to host Oregon State, Sunday, October 12, at 12:30 p.m. The match will be televised by Fox Sports Northwest, and will catch the Beavers - who had received votes in last week's national coaches poll - coming off a five-set upset of USC Friday, and a five-set loss to No. 5 UCLA Saturday night.
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