University of Oregon
24-8
Delaware
19-16
No. 7 Ducks Down Hens, 3-0, in NCAA Opener
12/06/08 | Women's Volleyball
* A boxscore and play-by-play is located in the LINKS box to the right, and an updated STATS link is available above.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The No. 7-ranked and 11th-seeded University of Oregon volleyball team opened NCAA Tournament play with a 3-0 win Friday afternoon vs. Delaware.
The Ducks (24-8, 11-7) won their 18th 3-0 match of the season and hit .378 overall, while limiting the Blue Hens (19-16, 9-5) to a .066 mark. UO's +.300 mark was its 15th of '08, while it limited an opponent to a .100 hitting mark or less for the ninth time this campaign.
The Oregon defense finished with 11 blocks - its 12th double-digit match this season and second straight after it collaborated on 12 vs. then-No. 7 California in its season finale last week.
“Overall I think we played OK,” Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “I think we were a little tight and anxious before, and that's good because you're supposed to be before an NCAA tournament game, and you're not worried.”
Duck junior Sonja Newcombe and senior Gorana Maricic each had a team-high 10 kills ? the 22nd and eighth time each has paced UO in the stat this season, respectively.
Newcombe also hit .562, while sophomore Heather Meyers paced the same category (.571), and claimed nine kills and four block assists. Junior Neticia Enesi hit .364 and had five kills, and defensively was one of four Ducks to rack up +4 blocks with her team-high (8) - her fourth of the season with eight blocks or more.
Senior libero Katie Swoboda came up with 14 digs, and Maricic added 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season and 21st of her career. Junior setter Nevena Djordjevic racked up 27 assists and added six digs.
As a team, 13 of the team's 14 that made the trip played Friday - the most in a Duck match since 13 also played Oregon's 3-0 win at Washington State, October 19.
“The team was pretty balanced, so we were all doing our part,” Meyers said. “Nev kept feeding me balls at various points, so it was nice to contribute and get off to a positive start. We've had had a great trip so far, both on and off the court. Coach Moore has done a good job of helping us both enjoy some of the sights of D.C. but also in a way to keep us prepared for today so we wouldn't think about it too much or get too nervous. I also really liked the environment in the gym today ? it was different than a lot of the Pac-10 arenas since it was smaller and more intimate.”
Enesi's eight block assists Friday moved her into a tie for fifth all-time for Oregon in career block assists (275), while she remained 10th all-time in career total blocks (307) and now only three away from the ninth-best mark (310). Season-wise, Enesi still stood third all-time in block assists for a season (133) and moved within three of the second-best tally and four from the school record (136 / 137). In the same category, senior Kristen Forristall registered her 107th block assist of '08 and is only one away from 10th all-time total (108) and six away from eighth all-time number (113) in a season.
Among Delaware's stat leaders, Paige Erickson had seven kills, hit .250 and came up with seven blocks, Kim Stewart rang up eight kills, setter Jess Chason ended with 20 assists, and Stephanie Barry posted 11 digs.
Friday marked UO's second straight season with an opening-round NCAA tourney win and third overall after Oregon also beat Missouri State (3-0) in '07, Hawai'i in '84 (3-2). Last year, the Ducks proceeded to upset No. 11-seeded Kansas State in the second round to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever in the NCAA 64-team format.
“We took care of business, especially focusing on our side of the court like Jim (Moore, head coach) emphasized because that's when we play our best,” Sonja Newcombe said. “The team is getting more and more relaxed in the NCAA setting. The first time we played a match like this two years ago we were nervous about every little new thing that's different that a regular season match, but we were relaxed and confident coming into today. We were really excited to play and get on the court. We're looking forward to building through every match.”
In the first set, Oregon jumped out to an 8-2 lead after Meyers had two early kills, Newcombe had another and junior Amanda Westrick had an ace. The Ducks continued to lead by counts of 13-7 and 19-10, before Delaware had its best run of the period to pull within 20-15, but UO ended the set with a 5-1 run of its own to win 25-16. UO hit .480 (compared to .114 for Delaware), and was led by Meyers who had five kills and hit .833, while Maricic added four digs and Enesi and Newcombe had single block assists.
In the second set, after Delaware got out to a 4-2 early lead, UO pulled back ahead 5-4 en route to leads of 9-5, 13-7 and 16-9. A Duck attack error and service error cut its lead to 16-11, but UO came back with three straight points to lead 19-11, 22-14, and ultimately 25-18. Maricic and Meyers had four and three kills, respectively, and UO had four blocks in the set and was led in the category by Enesi (4) and Meyers (2). UO's hitting was .281 in the set, while Delaware hit .129.
In contrast, the Ducks jumped out to a 6-0 third-set lead and never looked back. The Blue Hens clawed their way back into the match 10-6, but UO deep roster continued to hold its opponent at bay with 15-9 and 19-14 scores en route to a 25-15 final outcome. Among top UO stats in the set, Newcombe converted seven kills among her nine attempts, along with two digs, while Enesi had three block assists among the team's six blocks in the set. Oregon hit .400 for the set, while Delaware hit -.025 in its final set of its season.
Looking ahead, the Ducks return to Bender Arena on the American University campus Saturday to play North Carolina (22-10, 15-5) in the second round match that starts at 3 p.m. Pacific Time (6 p.m. Eastern Time). The Tar Heels beat the host American Eagles in three sets, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17, later Friday evening. Live stat and video links are available online via the www.AUeagles.com website.
More information on the tourney is available at the www.NCAAsports.com and www.AUeagles.com websites.
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