No. 18 Trojans Dispatch No. 12 Ducks, 3-0

Saturday, October 24

Los Angeles, Calif.

2:00 PM

University of Oregon

14-5, 4-5

USC

15-6, 4-5

Team	1	2	3	Final F
OREGON	24	23	28	0
USC	26	25	30	3

Neticia Enesi & Sonja Newcombe, 2009 Oregon Volleyball

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

10/24/09 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: GoDucks.com

* A boxscore and play-by-play is located in the LINKS box to the right, and updated season/career stats are available via the link above.

LOS ANGELES - The No. 15 University of Oregon volleyball team (14-5, 4-5) dropped its second road contest in L.A. this weekend with a 3-0 decision at No. 18 USC (15-6, 4-5) Saturday afternoon.

Taking each set by a scant two-point margin, USC won 26-24, 25-23, 30-28 to seal its first winning weekend of the conference slate after it also topped Oregon State, 3-0, Friday night.

Oregon's offense racked up solid numbers as senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe ended with a team three-set season high 21 kills and paced the team in hitting (.442) with her sixth +.300 mark in league action. The reigning National Player of the Week added 10 digs for her team-high 40th double-double of the season and eighth of her career – including seven that have come in Pac-10 play.

Junior outside hitter Heather Meyers posted three-set kill and dig season highs (13 / 13) for her fourth double-double of '09 and second of the weekend, and hit .303.

Another of UO's three hitters over .300, senior middle blocker Neticia Enesi paced the team in hitting (.467) and blocks (3) for the 13th and ninth times this season, respectively.

Senior setter Nevena Djordjevic was one off her three-set career-best with her 44 assists Saturday, and added six digs.

Freshman libero Kellie Kawasaki led the team in digs (13) for the fifth time in '09, and Meyers' tying total was the third time that she's paced Oregon in the stat category this year.

Team-wise, USC held advantages over UO in hitting (.264-.252), kills (52-50), digs (59-49), blocks (10-6.5), assists (50-46) and aces (5-3).

Sophomore outside hitter Alex Jupiter led USC in kills (19), and two others had double-figure totals – Lauren Williams (12) and Jessica Gysin (10). Jupiter also posted a team-best three service aces, and other Trojan category leaders included Kendall Bateman (49 assists), Alli Hillgren (20 digs) and Audrey Eichler (5 blocks).

In the first set, an early UO 8-6 turned into a 17-12 advantage on a kill by Meyers, before USC closed the deficit to 18-16 on a block by Williams. UO later found itself with a 21-18 lead on a kill by Enesi, but USC eventually tied the game, 22-22 on a Gysin kill. After ties at 23-23 and 24-24, the Trojans ended the set with two straight kills by Jupiter and Gysin to win 26-24.

In the second set, USC turned a narrow 8-7 lead into a 19-12 advantage on a run capped by three kills by Jupiter and another by Eichler. UO came back to close within 23-22 on a run that featured three kills by Newcombe, but a block by Eichler and Bateman and kill by the former player provided for a 25-23 Trojan decision.

After an 8-8 tie in the final set, USC reeled off four straight points to go up 12-8, and kept a 3-4 point advantage until Oregon fought back to tie it 19-19 on a 3-0 run. However, The Trojans answered with a 3-1 surge to go up 23-20, then 24-22, but a Newcombe kill and Haley Jacob ace again tied it 24-24. USC took five, single-point leads but UO answered with tying points each time until 28-28 when the Trojans claimed the victory on a Gysin kill and attack error by Meyers in the 30-28 final stanza.

“Just like last night (in a 3-2 loss at No. 13 UCLA), we have to have a better grasp of putting the match away and going to the right people in those stressful situations,” Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “Our passing was OK, but we didn't serve well the whole weekend. Sonja really stepped up – I can't remember a player getting 20 kills and losing in three sets. Neticia also hit .460 today, but only got 15 swings so we have to do a better job of finding her.”

Looking ahead, UO returns home to McArthur Court to host Oregon State next Friday, Oct. 30 at McArthur Court at 7 p.m. for a Fox Sports Net televised match.

Duck volleyball fans can also watch a local rebroadcast of the UO-UCLA match from Friday night on Fox Sports Northwest, Sunday, October 25 at 2 p.m.

- www.GoDucks.com -