DuckNews.com - Volleyball

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Ducks Sweep SoCals

An impressive sweep of the SoCal pair in volleyball was not something coach Jim Moore had necessarily seen coming. "They just got tired of losing," he said, in a phrase summarizing a maddening series of "not quite enough" performances the Ducks offered thus far in the Pac-10 fracas.

His surprise was in how quickly the group seemed to find a balance in their playmaking in the latter stages of games. In too many games for Moore's taste the ladies hadn't found a way to consolidate a lead late in the match. The 6^th ranked Trojans and the 9^th ranked Bruins aren't a pair of teams one would typically see as opportunities to make that grade, but that's how it happened.

Stanford fell to Ducks' sharpened intent first, 3-1 (30-21, 30-26, 28-30, 30-28) and it was

Thursday's second game that in hindsight perhaps was the turning point for the weekend - the game was there to be won giving the Ducks control of the match - but it was also very much there to be lost.

Steady service and a solid defense kept Oregon in points they used to give away, and the Ducks offense had more opportunities to strike. And it worked. Suddenly it wasn't incumbent on a particular individual to make a play, it became more who was in position to make the play first. That's pretty effective in any sport, including volleyball.

A reaffirmation of the lesson became necessary when the Trojans came back to win game three, but the Ducks were a bit more sure handed with the lead in the fourth to take the match.

Then they rolled UCLA 3-0 . 30-24, 30-28, 30-24 if you care to count.

Oregon State's visit to McArthur Court on Friday, November 16 will conclude the home portion of the conference schedule though the Ducks are in position to host opening rounds of the NCAA tournament after a pair of matches north of the river.

Ducks Fall To Bay Area Squads

Rick Morgan

The 10^th ranked California Bears and 2^nd ranked Stanford Cardinal combined to sweep the Ducks in volleyball action Thursday and Friday nights at McArthur Court.

Oregon remained within striking distance of the Bears in for most of Thursday's contest, falling 30-27 and 31-29 in the match's first two games then taking the third 22-30. But in the fourth game, California broke a 19-19 tie and held the Ducks at bay for a 30-24 decision, taking the third game for the match.

Gorana Maricic posted 31 kills to lead the Ducks but Oregon's defense was not able to withstand the potent California attack, allowing the Bears to hit .314 for the match. It was the first time this season the Ducks surrendered a hitting percentage higher than .300.

It was jumping from the frying pan into the fire the next evening when the 2^nd ranked Stanford Cardinal swept the Ducks in three games, 30-27, 32-30, 30-20.

Once again the Ducks remained within a handful of points in the match's first two games, despite the .377 hitting percentage the Cardinal was able to fashion from their very athletic attack.

Maricic's 18 kills led the Ducks for the second straight night and Kristen Foristall matched a career high with nine kills while leading Oregon in hitting (.438).

The pair of losses slips Oregon's record to 14-4 overall and 3-3 in Pac-10 play. After traveling to UCLA and USC this week, then facing the Beavers in Corvallis on October 19, the Ducks return to Mac Court on October 25 to face Arizona.

2007 Volleyball Schedule

Aug 24 Idaho State W (3-0)

Aug 25 Cal State Bakersfield W (3-0)

Aug 25 Kansas W (3-0)

Aug 31 Mississippi State at Waco, Tx W (3-0)

Sep 01 Stephen F. Austin at Waco, Tx W (3-0)

Sep 01 Baylor at Waco, Tx W (3-0)

Sep 04 @ San Francisco W (3-0)

Sep 07 Rutgers W (3-0)

Sep 08 Rutgers W (3-0)

Sep 11 Portland W (3-0)

Sep 14 Purdue at Columbus, Oh L (1-3)

Sep 15 Ohio State at Columbus, Oh W (3-0)

Sep 21 Washington L (2-3)

Sep 22 Washington State W (3-0)

Sep 27 @ Arizona State W (3-1)

Sep 28 @ Arizona W (3-0)

Oct 04 California L (1-3)

Oct 05 Stanford L (0-3)

Oct 11 @ UCLA L (1-3)

Oct 12 @ USC L (0-3)

Oct 19 @ Oregon State W (3-0)

Oct 25 Arizona W (3-0)

Oct 26 Arizona State L (1-3)

Nov 01 @ Stanford L (1-3)

Nov 02 @ California L (0-3)

Nov 08 USC W (3-1)

Nov 09 UCLA W (3-0)

Nov 16 Oregon State 7:00 p.m.

Nov 23 @ Washington State 7:00 p.m.

Nov 24 @ Washington 7:00 p.m.
Home Matches in BOLD

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