No. 18 Wildcats Halt No. 14 Ducks, 3-1

Friday, November 6

Eugene, Ore.

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

15-6, 5-6

Arizona

17-6, 6-6

ARIZONA

OREGON

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

11/07/09 | 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 updated season and career statistics are available via the link above.

EUGENE - The No. 18 University of Arizona Wildcats (17-6, 6-6) handed the No. 14 University of Oregon volleyball team (15-6, 5-6) only its second home loss this year by a 3-1 margin Friday night at McArthur Court.

Arizona won its third straight match in the series by a 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17 margin, and scored its first win in Eugene since 2005 after UO had swept the last three meetings in 'The Pit' by a 3-0 count.

Duck junior outside hitter Heather Meyers led UO in kills (16) and blocks (3) for the fifth time this year, and her hitting total (.243) was UO's best for the sixth time this year. Her nine digs on defense also left her one shy of her fifth double-double of the season.

Freshman outside hitter Katherine Fischer came up with a career high 17 digs, and added eight kills and a team-best two service aces.

Senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe added 13 kills - her eighth straight match in double figures and 18th this season - and seven digs.

Senior setter Nevena Djordjevic posted 49 assists - her 31st career match with +40 assists and ninth this season.

UA held edges in the team comparison in kills (63-57), hitting (.317-.213), assists (58-53), digs (69-60) and blocks (11-5), while UO sported an advantage in service aces (5-2).

For UA, Tiffany Owens led in kills (17) and points (19), added 15 digs and hit .310. Other visitor category leaders included Stephanie Snow (.615 hitting), Paige Weber (50 assists, 2 aces), Alanna Rescher (16 digs) and Jacy Norton (8 blocks).

"I was very disappointed with how we played and don't know what happened," Oregon head coach Jim Moore. "We had an excellent week of practice, but it didn't show tonight. We had a lack of focus, looked confused on defense and were often out of defensive rotation. Arizona played well, and gave us no points, but that's not an excuse for our lack of concentration. We have to shake this off and come back tomorrow and be prepared and focused."

In the first set, after an early 4-4 tie, Arizona never trailed and extended its lead to 17-12 on the fifth and final of Courtney Karst's set-high five kills. However, UO cut it to 15-17 on one of the night's longest volleys that saw UO dig five straight Wildcat attacks before an over play led to a kill by senior Neticia Enesi. UO then cut it to 17-18 and 18-19 on kills by Meyers and Enesi, but a four-point Wildcat run after the latter margin included a Duck service and hitting error and Wildcat block by Norton and Owens led to a 25-20 result.

In the second set, Arizona similarly never trailed after a 6-6 tie, and took its first four-point advantage at 19-15, en route to a 25-21 score. Meyers ended with six kills in the set, including three of the team's last six points. UA's Owens showed one of the most heads-up plays on the night at 21-18 when she retrieved an errant dig six feet past the net and along the baseline, and passed back to her side of the court en route to eventual UA point.

In the third set, UA stormed out to early leads of 5-1 and 10-4, and moments later went up 17-11 on a kill by Norton. UO pulled back within 17-15 on two kills by Newcombe, another by Meyers who had five in the set, and an attack error by Owens. Oregon finally tied the set 20-20 on a Fischer kill, and then took its first lead, 24-23, on a service error by Resch that was followed by an attack error by Norton for a 25-23 Duck win.

In the fourth set, neither team led by more than a point until UA's 11-9 lead which was extended to 14-9 on a block by Owens and Norton and 17-10 on an Owens kill. After an Oregon timeout, Arizona's lead grew to 20-14 on a Karst kill that ultimately led to a 25-17 decision.

Friday's outcome ended a four-match home winning streak that included victories over Washington State (3-1), then-No. 14 Cal (3-1), then-No. 5 Stanford (3-2) and Oregon State (3-1), while UO's only other home loss this season was a 3-0 defeat to then-No. 3 Washington to open the conference slate. Oregon also opened the season with a five-match home win streak in non-conference action.

In other league action Friday night, visiting teams won three of the remaining four matches as Arizona State won 3-1 at Oregon State, No. 7 UCLA won 3-2 at No. 17 USC, No. 4 Washington beat No. 5 Stanford 3-0, and No. 13 California won 3-1 at No. 24 Washington State.

Looking ahead, UO returns to action at McArthur Court Saturday night to host Arizona State at 7 p.m.

Duck fans are invited to sign up next week for the team's special End of the Year Celebration brunch, Sunday, November 22 at 10:30 a.m. Cost is $20 per person, and those interested can contact the UO volleyball program during normal weekday business hours at 541.346.5776.

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