University of Oregon
19-5, 7-4Pac-10
UCLA
15-7, 5-6Pac-10
No. 7 Ducks Halt No. 9 Bruins in Five
11/02/08 | Women's Volleyball
* A boxscore and play-by-play is located in the LINKS box to the right, and player/coach quotes and a more detailed recap will be re-posted shortly.
LOS ANGELES ? Taking a cue from the location near Tinseltown, the No. 7 Oregon volleyball team relied on a dramatic movie-like storyline to claim its first regular season series sweep of No. 9 UCLA in a tightly-contested five-set battle.
UO (19-5, 7-4) pulled out its first five-set victory of the season with wins in the first two sets by narrow 26-24 margins, lost the next two sets 18-25 and 21-25, then fought back to win the final set 15-13 over UCLA (15-7, 5-6).
Oregon's win notched a weekend split at the L.A. schools, after No. 12 USC pulled out a five-set win over Oregon Friday night with the fifth set decided by an equally dramatic 23-21 score.
For the second straight night, junior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe was one of a season-high four Ducks that ended with double-digit kill figures. The Lake Arrowhead, Calif., native had 22 kills ? three better than her previous season high (19) vs. the Bruins in Eugene a month ago. She also hit .327 ? her fifth conference match above .300.
Just a week earlier, Newcombe's status had been questionable in UO's
matches vs. the Arizona league rivals when she missed one match
entirely, and saw partial action as a reserve in the other. However, a
knee injury from Washington State two weeks ago did little to slow her
productivity Saturday.
She also tallied a season-high-tying 18 digs en route to sixth double-double of the season and 30th of her career. In the same category, senior libero Katie Swoboda ended with a team-high 22 digs and was one five Ducks that had double-digit tallies.
Junior middle blocker Neticia Enesi led the hitting percentage column (.452) for the second straight night and 11th time this season. The Dalles, Ore., native's 17 kills tied for second-best on the team with All-American and senior outside hitter Gorana Maricic who scored her third double-double of the season with her season-high 16 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Heather Meyers also added 11 kills and 14 digs for her first career double-double, with the latter figure a career high by five digs.
Helping direct the offense, junior setter Nevena Djordjevic upped her career assists best for the second straight night, and her 64 Saturday was four better than her tally (60) in Friday's match at No. 12 USC. The Lazarevac, Serbia native added 10 digs for her fourth double-double of the season and 17th of her career.
In other stat categories, senior middle blocker Kristen Forristall registered two blocks, and Djordjevic and junior Amanda Westrick each had single service aces.
As a team, UO hit .243 for the match, and opened with .405 and .283 marks the first two sets, and again hit .300 in the fifth set, balanced by .087 and .188 marks in the third and fourth sets. In contast, UCLA's numbers were more stable in the set comparison (.267 - .262 - .343 - .256 - .280) and ended with a .279 hitting mark ? a season high for an opponent in a Duck win.
UO's win Saturday raised Oregon's record vs. UCLA to 3-1 in its last four matches after a 3-1 win this October and a 3-0 win last November ? both in Eugene ? while the Bruins edged the Ducks, 3-1, last December in the NCAA tournament to advance to the Elite Eight. Before the arrival of fourth-year Duck head coach Jim Moore, UO owned a 1-41 mark all-time vs. the perennial national power.
Looking ahead, No. 7 UO plays returns to the state of Oregon for the second seasonal installment of the Civil War Sponsored by Your Northwest Dodge Dealers. The match vs. Oregon State will be held Friday, November 7 at 7 p.m. in Corvallis.
PLAYER/COACH QUOTES
Head Coach Jim Moore
“This may be our biggest victory since I got here, and one of the most important matches ever for this team We really needed to win a five-set match like this before the NCAA tourney. ... It came down to a complete team effort. Neticia had an amazing weekend. To have 40 kills ? that's amazing for a middle blocker. Sonja stepped up huge and was really, really good when it mattered the most. She took charge and absolutely ran the show down the stretch. She jumped higher, she hit harder, and was a true leader - I was really proud of her. Nev (Nevena) made great decisions and has been setting very well. ... Defensively we stepped up, too. We only had five blocks, so we had to get a lot of digs. Part of that had to do with them (UCLA) - they were very smart and hit around the blocks. UCLA is a great ball control team, so you don't get a lot of aces against them, but I thought we served tough.“
Sonja Newcombe
“Tonight was huge, I can't put into words how much it meant. It was so emotional talking to my family afterwards, and my brother had never seen us win a big Pac-10 match on the road. We needed this experience to make us better and take the next step. In the third and fourth sets, we were a little drained because they were digging everything under the sun, so we struggled with that a little emotionally. However, Nev (Nevena Djordjevic) and Teesh (Neticia Enesi) pulled the team together. They were fighting the whole time, kept their heads up, never second-guessed any of their teammates, and kept the energy high. ... (After the USC loss Friday) We were really excited to play today. We were frustrated at how it turned out last night ? it's always a little difficult after a five-set loss ? but we came in today with a fresh perspective, watched film and did what we needed to do to be prepared. We knew it would be tough match, and they were going to play well ? Jim (Moore, head coach) said it would be a test of our character. ... (About how she felt physically) Overall, I'm a little tired now, but during the game I didn't feel it. At the end of the match, I was doing my best to step it up, and knew that it would take a little extra energy. ... (About the team's balance offensively and defensively) Distribution is key for us. We have a lot of weapons, so it's a great strength to have everybody be able to step up. ... (Key moments in the match?) Before the start of the fifth set in our huddle on the court, Teesh (Neticia) told us how much character we had ? that meant a lot. She hadn't done that before, but it came out naturally, and at a perfect time.”
Neticia Enesi
“I'm a little exhausted emotionally, but equally elated to win a five-set match like that. I said right before the fifth set, we've done it plenty of times before, we just needed to step up and spike balls. Concentration-wise, we weren't going to let it happen again like last night. To their credit, they played great, especially defensively. I was surprised that they had 16 blocks compared to our five but that gives us confidence that we can win by staying tough mentally. I thought I could have put more kills down, but they were everywhere at times. ... (Any key motivational words from head coach Jim Moore during the match?) Jim let us take control of ourselves, and we tried to pull together and continually encourage each other.”
