University of Oregon
17-9, 7-9
UCLA
21-8, 11-5
Seniors Lead No. 18 Ducks to Epic Comeback Over No. 7 UCLA
11/22/09 | Women's Volleyball
EUGENE - In a fitting Senior Day storyline, Oregon's senior class willed the No. 18 Duck volleyball team (17-9, 7-9) back from an 0-2 deficit to a 3-2 win over No. 7 UCLA (21-8, 11-5) and its third straight win at McArthur Court over the Bruins.
After losing the first two sets, 23-25, 18-25, Oregon came back to win the last three sets, 25-22, 27-25 and 17-15 in only its second 0-2 comeback under fifth-year head coach Jim Moore's Duck tenure - the other being a dramatic upset of No. 9 seed Kansas State in the 2007 NCAA Tournament Second Round at Manhattan, Kan.
Senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe racked up 27 kills - only two off her career high - while her 29 points was only one shy of similar honors. She did get a career high in digs (27) - three better than her tally of 24 in an upset last month at home of then-No. 5 Stanford - and the double-double was a team-best 11th this season and 45th career-wise. She has now led UO in kills and points in 14 and 15 matches this season, respectively - both tops on the squad - while she also led the team in aces (2) Saturday for the seventh time this campaign.
“I am elated, and couldn't have scripted it better," Newcombe said. "I was happy to be able to step up and get the kills when the team need them. This wins showed what we're capable of, and will give us a good push heading into the (NCAA) tournament."
The Lake Arrowhead, Calif., native made countless critical plays on both ends of the court, including a lunging save near the baseline with the score tied 25-25 that she immediately converted into a kill to give UO a 26-25 lead.
Senior middle blocker Neticia Enesi collected 14 kills en route to a .500 hitting mark - the 12th match where she's equaled or bettered .500 this season, and her team-leading second and third block assists ended the match on an attack by the Bruins Dicey McGraw and Bojana Todorovic. Enesi also landed an ace and came up with three digs in her 16.5-point evening.
"Tonight was really important because we needed to shake off last night's match," Enesi said. "We tried to be as calm as possible and stay focused on each play at hand, because UCLA is a team that will never let its guard down. It was nice to have my serve back a little - I had been out of rhythm in recent weeks, but it felt better tonight."
Senior setter Nevena Djordjevic also enjoyed a career high 66 assists - two more than her previous best from a five-set win at UCLA last season. The Lazarevac, Serbia native was also one dig shy of her fourth double-double of the year, and posted two blocks and an ace.
"I just tried to play hard," Djordjevic said, "we all did. Anytime you win in five sets it's going to take great focus and cooperation by the team, and that was the case tonight. It was a special way to say goodbye to the fans, and to my parents who traveled here for the first time from Serbia. The way the other seniors stepped up was another example of the level they've lifted this program to, and I'm proud to be a part of it."
Meyers notched her fourth double-double the past month with her 17 kills and 10 digs, and now has six this season and 10 in her career.
Sophomore middle blocker Dana Stephenson added a career high .625 hitting mark to lead the Ducks in the category for the third time this season and second time the past two weeks, while her 11 kills was two shy of her personal high.
UCLA outhit (.317-.259) and outblocked (13-5) Oregon, but the Ducks held advantages in assists (74-66), aces (5-3) and digs (73-69) against one of the finest all-around teams in the nation that had won eight of its last nine matches, including four straight on the road in that period.
The diversified Bruin offense had four hitters end with double-digit kill figures - Dicey McGraw (16), Sather (15) and Katie Camp and Mari Hole (11). Other category leaders included Lauren Cook (55 assists), Todorovic (2 aces), Lainey Gera (21 digs), Camp (6 blocks) and Sather (18 points).
Saturday's final home match of the season gave UO an 11-3 season mark at historic Mac Court, and more importantly ended a three-game skid that included a 3-0 loss to USC Friday night, while its other recent losses came at then-No. 7 Stanford, 3-0, and then-No. 12 California, 3-1, last weekend.
Saturday also marked UO's third win against a top-10 team in '09 with the other victim No. 9 Minnesota in mid-September at Denver, and fourth top-20 victim thanks to a 3-0 sweep of then-No. 14 California in October in Eugene.
"This was a truly great match to be a part of," Oregon head coach Jim Moore said, "especially considering how we played last night. We fought tooth and nail against a team that specializes in that. We played together, and even though we lost the first two sets I told them at intermission that they were playing well and to keep battling. We didn't change our demeanor from when we were down 0-2 to 2-2, to the fifth set and stayed as calm as possible. Having all the seniors play the way they did, including Amanda who again served great, made it even more special. Sonja had another All-American type of night and stepped up big on so many critical points. Teesh and Nev also were difference-makers, too. I'm so proud of this first recruiting class that changed it all - they deserved this type of send-off. We didn't play great at the start, but out digging got better early, and brought us back into the match, and our blocking made a difference in the end."
The weekend also saw Newcombe climb the Duck career lists in digs (third, 1,184), digs per set average (sixth, 2.81), block assists (sixth, 276), and block assists (276) and 10th in total blocks (312), and she already ranked first all-time for UO in points (1,766), third in attacks (4,113) and fourth in kills (1,500). Enesi and Djordjevic also added to their school career records in the block assists (377) and assists (4,192) categories, too. Meyers also climbed a spot on the school career aces chart Saturday with the 276th of her career, and she is now tied for seventh all-time.
Looking ahead, No. 18 UO closes out the regular season next week with its matches at Washington State and No. 4 Washington, Wednesday and Friday, November 25 and 27, and both matches start at 7 p.m. The Ducks topped WSU, 3-1, and lost to then-No. 3 UW, 3-0, in their prior meetings in late September in Eugene to open the conference slate.
In other action around the Pac-10 Saturday night, No. 6 Stanford won 3-0 at Arizona State, No. 4 Washington won 3-0 over Washington State in Seattle, and No. 15 USC swept Oregon State, 3-0, in Corvallis.
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