One of the biggest weekends in the history of Oregon's athletic department got underway on a fine foot as the volleyball posted a 3-1 win over the Beavers Friday night at Mac Court.
The Ducks are now 5-5 in conference play and 15-5 overall. It was a revenge match of sorts for Oregon. The Beavers upset Oregon in the Corvallis edition of the rivalry early in conference play.
Sonja Newcombe led the way for the Ducks setting career highs in kills with 29 and 30 points. Those stats were aided by a marathon first set that went to Oregon by the score of 39-37. Oregon fought off nine set points for the Beavers in a 45 minute first set.
Newcombe also had 14 digs to give her 43 double-doubles in her career and her sixth straight in Pac-10 play.
"That first set was a real learning point for this team and was a springboard for our confidence," Newcombe said. "I tried to keep calm since our team was more up and down emotionally the first time we played them this season, and be ready to do what was needed. OregonState always seems to block well against us, but we dealt with it better later in the match. I was happy with how we minimized their runs, swung hard, and improved our blocking as we went along."
Oregon State bounced right back to take the second set 25-21. Whatever Newcombe and head coach Jim Moore said during the 10 minute break ought to be bottled. The Ducks came out firing on all cylinders, winning the next two sets and the match 25-22 , 25-21. In that earlier meeting, the Ducks led two sets to one then allowed the fourth and fifth sets to slip away. It is probably safe to assume the conversation focused on that not happening again. It didn't.
"We knew this would be a dogfight," Oregon coach Jim Moore said. "We hung in there and showed our grit early which was critical. OSU is always up for this match emotionally, so I was glad our players pulled together and came away with the win."
Newcombe had a big night, but that night might not have happened if it wasn't for senior setter Nevena Djordjevic. The Serbia native racked up 56 assists, breaking the career mark with 3,924 and counting.
But it was definitely Newcombe who practically pounded the Beavers into submission. The senior outside hitter is on track for a second National Player of the Year award.
"Sonja is playing at another level and did it for the entire match," was Moore's assessment.
"She had a huge number of kills and also hit great (.364), played great defense and passed well - she lifted us in so many ways. Her hunger and desire carried over to her teammates, and they found a way to get it done."
Newcombe wasn't alone in the winning effort. Heather Meyers added 12 kills, seven digs and five blocks. Neticia Eneci tallied eight kills and five blocks and freshman Katherine Fischer racked up six kills, 11 digs, three blocks and two service aces.
The Ducks will host the Arizona schools this weekend at McArthur Court, facing the Wildcats on Friday and the Sun Devils on Saturday. Both matches start at 7 pm.
It was a historic weekend for the Oregon volleyball team as head coach Jim Moore's squad posted a pair of victories over their Bay Area rivals California and Stanford. Friday's sweep of the 14th ranked Bears (25-20, 25-19, 25-20) was their first since 1990.
Facing the third ranked Cardinal on Saturday, the Ducks were impressive in claiming their first victory in the series since 1989 - a five set thriller (25-23, 22-25, 30-32, 25-22, 15-11) that saw Oregon exhibit a focus and toughness against a topnotch opponent that should serve them well in tournament play later this year.
"This was certainly our best effort in four weeks," Oregon head coach Jim Moore said after Friday's match with the Bears. "We sustained momentum well, except when we lost our focus at the end of game two. At that point, I told them that all we needed to do was side out."
"The key to our success this season will be to take it one point at a time, and we didn't lose sight of that tonight."
Oregon's three seniors led the way;outside hitter Sonja Newcombe logged 13 kills to pace the Ducks, middle blocker Neticia Enesi's .667 hitting mark was the best for any Oregon player in conference play this season and setter Nevena Djordjevic contributed 39 assists in orchestrating the attack.
Newcombe followed up Friday's effort with a sensational performance against the 5th ranked Cardinal on Saturday. Her 26 kills tied her career high as the Ducks upended Stanford for only the third time in program history.
"I can't keep the smile off my face," Newcombe said. "We had to battle, and it was a huge team effort. We just had to focus on each point and go from there. Everyone did a great job of staying composed and business-like, and keeping their emotions in check until the end. This was a pretty darn big win, and I'm hoping we have some other ones, too."
Moore was effusive with his praise. "To go 20 years without beating them is a long time, but more important is how the players responded to adversity," he said. "After we lost game three the way we did, and then came out so disorganized in game four, we lost heart and weren't playing tough, but we regained composure and were able to pull it out. Sonja played ridiculous - 26 kills and 24 digs against a team like this is amazing. This whole week the seniors led the way in practice. They have showed their intelligence and composure. They never stopped believing tonight."
After battling to a take a 2-1 lead in sets, Oregon faltered in the fourth to send the game into the 15 point tie-breaker. Rather than succumb to the pressure of the moment, Oregon rallied to an early 8-2 advantage, then repelled a Cardinal comeback to win the set 15-11.
The Ducks are on the road next, facing UCLA and USC before returning to McArthur Court to host the Beavers on Friday, October 20th. Game time is 7:00 pm.
Ducks Post 3-1 Victory Over WSU
After suffering their first loss of the season on Friday to the Huskies, Oregon (11-1, 1-1) paid the favor forward on Sunday afternoon, handing Washington State (12-1, 1-1) their first loss of the season, 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21).
In taking the first set, the Cougars demonstrated an effective block against the Oregon attack and that remained their best option throughout the match. Over the final three sets Oregon eliminated unforced errors and received a larger contribution from junior Heather Meyers.
The Huskies had succeeded in holding the lefthander in check on Friday and Meyers conceded she spent the time since that match knowing a repeat performance would likely result in the Ducks starting conference play 0-2.
"I didn't play very well against Washington," Meyers said, "so I knew I needed come back refocused, and ready to play. I had to move past the frustration and focus on helping the team whatever way possible."
Meyer's 16 kills along with Sonja Newcombe (19) and Neticia Enesi (14) provided enough options at the net to eventually work through WSU's defensive block.
Both Meyer (ankle) and Newcombe (knee) are nursing injuries that kept them from being 100% and head coach Jim Moore spoke to the toughness he saw in their performance.
"WashingtonState hasn't gotten the respect they deserve nationally," Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. "They're really good, and if they stay in system, they'll beat you - they were undefeated for a reason. Having Sonja out there showed how tough and special she is, and it was her call to be out there. As a team, we needed to get through this match. We knew that they would be a tough opponent, and I thought we played pretty well, especially after the first set."
The Ducks are on the road for their next three matches, facing OregonState on October 2nd followed by ArizonaState (Oct 09) and Arizona (Oct 10). The Ducks return to McArthur Court to face California at 7:00pm on October 16th.
Ducks Swept By #3 Washington
The University of Washington Huskies offered a clinic in how the number three ranked team in the country got that way Friday night at McArthur Court, sweeping the 7th ranked Ducks 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-19). It was the first loss of the season for Oregon, now 10-1 and 0-1 in the conference.
"They are better than us right now," said Oregon head coach Jim Moore of the Huskies. "They are significantly better than us. serving and passing was relatively equal in the beginning but . when they took us out of (our) system we panicked a little bit."
"I'm disappointed in the third set. we made a whole bunch of errors and then it was pretty much over with."
The Ducks got off to a good start in the first set, but the Huskies quickly settled into their patient attack, getting a block on most of Oregon's attack attempts, then getting a quick set of the ball for the outside hitters. The Huskies also served very well - eight aces in the first two sets - and filled in the defense behind the serve effectively, giving Oregon little opportunity to assume the attack.
"You can only try your hardest," said Oregon outside hitter Neticia Enesi. "Whatever the result, win or loss. It's a tough opening match - number three - I think we kind of learned from tonight and we can regain our rhythm and confidence."
A pair of top ten teams and the regional rivalry attracted the third largest crowd in program history - 3,564 - to McArthur Court.
Senior outside hitter Sonja Newcome led the team in kills (17) and digs (11). Enesi added 13 kills, but the Huskies were effective in defending Oregon's Heather Myers, holding the junior to three kills and forcing 11 attack errors.
The Ducks host WashingtonState Sunday at 1:00 pm.
photos by Christine Regnier
Oregon Outpaces Portland State
The Oregon Ducks lost their first set of the season to a feisty Portland State team Tuesday night at McArthur Court but prevailed in the match 3-1. The win improved Oregon's season record to 6-0 but last season's Big West tournament champion claimed the second set 22-25 after the Ducks posted a 25-18 win in the first set.
After the break, Oregon's attack sharpened and they found better angles for their block and cruised through the final two sets 25-12, 25-15 to finish their non-conference home schedule unbeaten.
"I didn't like losing the set," Oregon head coach Jim Moore said, "but conversely it was an experience that will help us prepare for the rest of the season and all the great teams that we will we will continue to face. I tried to plan out the schedule that way so our younger players could build confidence and experience before the Pac-10 season. However, we need to be able to respond quicker and fix things that go wrong and limit how they effect us mentally in latter plays."
The Ducks powerful front line each registered double digit kills, led by Neticia Enesi's 15. Sonja Newcombe added 11 and Heather Meyers chipped in an even dozen as setter Nevena Djordjevic spread the attack around, tallying a season high 40 assists.
The Ducks face four non-conference foes on the road (Utah 9/15, Utah Valley 9/16, 9th ranked Minnesota 9/18 and Denver 9/19) before returning to McArthur Court to open Pac-10 play against Washington at 7:00 pm Friday September 25th.
DUCKS ROMP IN OREGON CLASSIC
Oregon's 14th ranked volleyball team opened their season with a three game sweep of their Oregon Classic tournament.
In Friday's opener against San Francisco the Ducks exhibited some opening match jitters early on but held on to win the first set 25-18,then found some offensive continuity to control the second set 25-8.
But the Dons reasserted their attack in the third set until the Ducks were able to claim the set 26-24 for a 3-0 whitewash.
Head coach Jim Moore couldn't be faulted for hoping that sequence represents a microcosm of the upcoming season. With several freshmen seeing the court for the first time, unsettled play early on is to be expected. The second set offered perhaps a glimpse of potential while the third set perhaps demonstrated an ability to win tough points when the game is on the line. The latter has been something of a concern of Moore's following last season's disappointing exit to the NCAA tournament. If you recall, Oregon was leading IowaState 2-0 only to see the Cyclones rally to win the final three sets preventing the Ducks from advancing to the Elite Eight.
Saturday the Ducks completed their sweep of the event with a methodical victories over Eastern Washington (3-0, 25-16, 25-11, 25-22) and Missouri State 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-19).
In their next action Oregon will host SeattleUniversity on Friday, September 4th.
