No. 2 Cardinal Sneaks Past Ducks, 3-1

Wednesday, November 26

Eugene, Ore.

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

22-8, 10-7

Stanford

25-3, 16-1

Stanford

Oregon

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

11/27/08 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: GoDucks.com

* A final boxscore and play-by-play is located in the LINKS box to the right, and a link to updated detailed stats is above.

EUGENE - The No. 8 University of Oregon volleyball team lost a hard-fought four-set affair Wednesday night in its penultimate match of the regular season Wednesday at McArthur Court.

The No. 2 Cardinal (25-3, 16-1) validated its national ranking with a hard-fought 25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23 win over No. 8 Oregon (22-8, 10-7).

For UO, junior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe hit .619 and had 15 kills combined in the third and fourth sets en route to a team-high 18 kills (and .359 hitting mark). Three other Ducks had double-digit kill totals ? senior Gorana Maricic (14), junior Neticia Enesi (11, .273) and senior Kristen Forristall (10, .450).

Newcombe's kill tally was her third-highest of the year behind her 22 kills in a five-set win at No. 10 UCLA and 19 at home in a four-set victory against the same Bruins.

UO junior setter Nevena Djordjevic finished with 54 assists ? her second-highest career tally in four-set matches ? thanks to her 20 in the final set. The Lazarevac, Serbia native entered the match ranked 10th nationally in assists per set (11.57) and has posted +40 assists in eight straight matches (including three that were three-set contests).

On defense, three Ducks had double-digit figures in digs ? senior Katie Swoboda (13), Maricic (11) and sophomore Heather Meyers (10). Maricic logged her sixth double-double of the season, while Newcombe just missed her ninth with Friday's nine digs.

For Stanford, Cynthia Barboza logged 21 kills and was one of four visitors with double-digit tallies, while Erin Waller paced the hitting column (.526, 12 kills). Among other Stanford stat leaders, Foluke Akinradewo came up with eight blocks, Gabi Ailes finished with 19 digs, and Cassidy Lichtman racked up 59 assists.

Overall, Stanford held edges in hitting (.347 / .270), blocks (18-10), kills (64-59) and digs (57-55)

“Tonight was great volleyball on both sides,” Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “For as anxious as we were before the match, I was happy that we played as composed as we did. Part of that nervousness maybe was from being stressed after last week. We were ready for them, but they won the long rallies, which was key, and we didn't hit the ball as hard as they did. We gave them one point in game three ? that's it ? and although they gave us more points they still won. Everybody played well tonight, and it was a very, very close match.”

On the UO all-time career and season charts, Enesi moved to fifth all-time in career points (892.5) and sixth in block assists (119).

Looking ahead, UO remains at home to host No. 7 California on Friday, November 28 at 7 p.m. Before the match, UO's quartet of seniors ? Kristen Forristall, Gorana Maricic, Marija Milosevic and Katie Swoboda ? will be honored at a Senior Day ceremony. The returning Final Four qualifier Golden Bears (23-5, 13-4) are ranked third in the Pac-10 this season and swept Oregon State Wednesday night.

Fans that wear black to Friday's match at McArthur Court will receive $2 general admission tickets.

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