What made Oregon volleyball ascend the national rankings on the volleyball court was the terrific amount of depth and balance the Ducks showed early on in the year. With Liz Brenner and Martenne Bettendorf leading a vaunted offensive attack and Amanda Benson holding things down in the backcourt, Oregon went from unranked to No. 11 in a month.
That same balance proved to be the Ducks’ undoing as No. 11 Oregon fell to rival No. 3 Washington 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 20-25, 16-25) in a match where the Ducks were “outplayed” by a “better” tea according to head coach Jim Moore.
“They’re (Washington) better than us — they’re better than us tonight and that’s without question,” Moore said. “What makes us good, if we’re good, is balance. Balance is what makes us scary and we had no balance.”
Oregon came into the game with one of the nation’s most balanced attack, leading to great success in their 6-2 rotation but somewhere along the line today, setters Maggie Scott and Shellsy Ashen forgot about some of there teammates.
“The setters have got to get it,” Moore said. “That’s all we kept saying, ‘we have to set the middle,’ and we didn’t set the middle.”
Middle Kacey Nady had a team-high .333 hitting percentage yet was set just 15 times, the least of Oregon’s six attackers. Likewise, Frankie Shebby and Naya Crittenden combined for 42 attacks yet had the two lowest attacking percentages of the team.
Oregon was dominated in all aspects as Washington hit .254 as a team and had a total on 20 team blocks, far and above Oregon’s six team blocks and .150 hitting percentage.
Martenne Bettendorf led the match with 17 kills while Liz Brenner added 12 kills and 13 digs. Ashen dished out 22 assists while Scott had 21 and Benson chipped in 16 digs.
Washington was led by reigning NCAA player of the year Krista Vansant and her 16 kills while Tia Scambray added 10 kills.
The first set had Matthew Knight Arena rocking as both squads looked like some of the top teams in the country by playing out long rallies, hard-hitting kills and amazing digs.
No team took more than a two-point advantage until the Ducks, behind a Scott service ace, made the score 23-20 that all but put the set out of reach. After Washington rallied with a point, Bettendorf noticed back-to-back kills to give the Ducks the victory.
Bettendorf had a tremdous first set where she totaled nine kills, including three of Oregon’s last four points.
In the second set, the Huskies showed what’s made them unbeatable on the year by playing a much stronger and mistake-free set while establishing their front row dominance.
After Washington seized the early lead, the Ducks battled back and cut the deficit to 14-10 but after a Washington service error, the Huskies went on a 9-4 run that made the score 23-14 and all but even up the sets.
Nady ended the bleeding for Oregon with a kill and after another brannier kill a team block, Oregon had a little bit of momentum. Washington ended that momentum with a kill by Vansant and a service ace to even the score.
The third set was like a boxing match with each team trading blows before Washington, behind the play of Vansant and Scambray, used a late 9-2 run to help earn the wi.
With Oregon up 14-12, back-to-back hitting errors by Warner tied the game before a Vansant kill gave Washington a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Ducks cut the deficit to three on different occasions after kills by Brenner and Nady but a hitting error and Washington block ended the set.
The fourth set was all Washington and it’s net play as the Huskies had eight blocks for points and after jumping to a quick 6-0 lead, dominated the set. Oregon seemed to be gaining momentum, cutting the deficit to four at 15-11 but a questionable by the lines judge rewarded the Huskies a point and stole back the momentum.
Oregon won’t have much time to dwell on the loss as it heads to Southern California next week to face nationally ranked team in USC and UCLA.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka