University of Oregon
7-1
UNLV
2-5
No. 12 Ducks Quiet Rebels in Four Sets
09/12/08 | Women's Volleyball
* A boxscore and play-by-play is located in the LINKS box to the right.
EUGENE - In its 2008 home debut, the No. 12 University of Oregon volleyball team opened the Oregon Classic with a four-set win vs. UNLV Friday night at McArthur Court.
The Ducks (7-1) won 25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 25-12 over the returning NCAA qualifier Rebels (2-5), and next look ahead to a pair of matches Saturday vs. Eastern Washington (3-4) at 12:30 p.m. and unbeaten Baylor (8-0) at 7 p.m.
UO combined for a .357 hitting mark - only one percentage point off its season high from its sweep of Central Florida the Friday before - and hit above .360 in the second (.368), third (.361) and fourth (.520) sets.
Senior outside hitter Gorana Maricic logged the team's season high in kills (20), and her .370 mark was a personal season high and her fourth match in the last five where she has hit .338 or better.
Three other Ducks ended in double figures in kills - juniors Neticia Enesi (13, .632) and Sonja Newcombe (11) and sophomore Heather Meyers (12, .375) - giving Oregon its first quartet of players with double figures in match kills this season.
Newcombe paced the team in digs with 14 for her third double-double of the year, second in as many matches and 27th of her career, while senior Katie Swoboda added 12 digs.
Junior setter Nevena Djordjevic racked up 48 assists - one off her season high 49 from the five-set battle at Illinois - and was one short of her first season double-double with her nine digs.
"We didn't play up to our potential," Djordjevic said. "but we showed much more emotion and energy in the fourth set, so that was important."
After winning 14 games in a row going back to its fifth-set loss at No. 18 Illinois on August 30, Oregon's streak came to an end in the third set. Oregon held a 16-14 lead on a kill by Meyers before UNLV rattled off six straight points to go up, 20-16, thanks to two service aces by Erin Greenwood and kills by Greenwood, Jessica Walter and Samantha Noland. The Rebels added another 4-2 surge for an insurmountable 24-18 advantage and eventual 25-22 win, thanks to kills by Leah Maurer, Walters and Noland.
In the fourth game, UO's lead was three points or less till it led 15-11 on Djordjevic's service ace in the heart of a seven-point run that erased an 11-11 tie with an 18-11 advantage. During that run Enesi had three kills en route to her season high (13).
"It was so great to be at home again," Enesi said. "The crowd was great and seemed noticeably bigger than our opening one last year. They helped us to keep our composure and raised our comfortable level. It was a total team effort, and Nev did a great job of spreading around the passes to the open hitters."
The first two sets were equally tight with the Ducks relying on late runs to win by three and four points, respectively.
In the first set, the teams were tied 10-10 before UO unleashed five straight points on two Meyers' kills and another each by Enesi and Newcombe. Greenwood landed two kills to help the Rebs even the score again at 18-18. After another tie at 19-19, three straight points put UO ahead 22-19 en route to a 25-22 decision, with three of UO's last six points on Maricic kills.
In the second set, there was plenty of drama again with 14 ties up through an 18-18 score. Kills by Enesi and Meyers and a Maricic service ace produced a 21-18 lead that was cut to 21-20 two plays later. However, kills by Newcombe and Meyers and a service ace by sophomore Amanda Westrick helped give UO a 1-0 lead overall.
At match's end, UNLV's Jessica Walters had a team-high 15 kills, and Greenwood added nine kills at a .350 clip. As a team, UNLV hit .246 for the match (partly thanks to a .361 mark in the third set, contrasted by a -.071 mark in the clincher. The Rebels were only the second opponent this year to hit over .200 vs. the Ducks after UC Irvine tallied .325 in Wednesday's three-set loss near L.A. to UO.
“We've been real good, but we were very porous tonight, and we just didn't execute as well as we needed to,” Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “I don't think it's a step backwards, but I don't think we were really ready to go defensively. We're not digging balls or blocking well, and we finally got a little better in the end. We hit pretty well and did good things, but we need to come out sharper Saturday.”
A link for free live stats for all four matches Saturday will again be available via the GoDucks.com schedule page. An online video broadcast of UO's two matches Saturday will also be available for O-Zone subscribers at the $9.95 monthly rate. Saturday's first match at 10:00 a.m. pits UNLV vs. Baylor, while Eastern Washington faces UNLV at 4:30 p.m.
QUICK QUACKS: UO had only one previous match this year where three players had +10 kills (a five-set loss at Illinois - Maricic (16), Newcombe (12), Forristall (10)). ... UO head coach Jim Moore is now 58-42 all-time for UO and 410-198 overall. ... UO is now 2-1 vs. UNLV and won its last meeting in 2002 (3-2), while UNLV won their first match in '97 (3-1). ... UO is now 39-3 in the preseason under Moore, and has yet to lose a home tournament match under the fourth-year mentor (and sports a 9-0 mark).
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