It was quite the night for Oregon head coach Jim Moore.
After swearing that setting Oregon’s career win record wouldn’t mean a thing to him, coach Moore kept his word when the Ducks defeated rival Oregon State 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-19) to remain unbeaten at 11-0 on the season and start conference play 1-0.
“No,” was Moore’s short response when asked if the record meant anything to him. “The only thing that I think about are the kids in that. I say it all the time — I have 0 kills, 0 assists, 0 anything — I stand there and go ‘yeah team’.”
Moore, in his 10th season at the helm, has amassed a 197-98 record and led the Ducks to seven NCAA Tournaments, including the 2012 national championship in which Oregon lost to Texas. Karla Rice held the previous record with 196 wins but Moore broke that record on a night when his team amassed 62 kills, a season-high.
“We made this way too hard,” Moore said. “We definitely put the ball on the floor so that’s a good thing — to get that, 62 kills in three games, is an awesome feat — that’s an impressive thing.”
Martenne Bettendorf led the way with 15 kills while Liz Brenner and Frankie Shebby added 14 and 13 kills respectively. Naya Crittenden chipped in nine kills but was the most efficient Duck when it came to hitting by posting .421 hitting percentage with one error.
Setters Maggie Scott and Shellsy Ashen continued to run Oregon’s 6-2 formation to perfection as the setters combined for 55 assists and did a sound job of distributing the ball to all hitters and taking advantages of one-on-one situations.
“Maggie did a great job tonight — Shells has played well all year long,” Moore said. “Attacking the ball on the right side, they’re (Scott and Ashen) picking great times and figuring that — that’s the difference right now with where we are and everybody else.”
It was the Bettendorf show in the first set as the sophomore counted for five of Oregon first 14 points to help the Ducks to a 14-10 lead. The Beavers would respond with a 4-1 run to close the deficit to one and prompt Moore to call a timeout, his first of the set.
Whatever was said in the timeout worked as the Ducks came out on fire, reeling off three straight kills, one each by Brenner, Nady and Crittenden. Oregon State responded to the run by closing the gap at three, 23-20, before Shebby took over. After struggling for much of the first set, Shebby finished off the set with two kills to give Oregon the 25-22 victory.
The second set began with Oregon State seizing control with a quick 4-1 run.
The Ducks battled back to tie the score at five on a violation by the Beavers but from there, Oregon State took control and never let the Ducks tie the game again until a Nady kill knotted the game at 20 and prompted a Beaver timeout. Oregon State came out of the timeout and scored two quick points, the final one coming on a judgement call by the referee that had Moore up from his seat and screaming.
Not to be deterred, the Ducks rattled off four straight points with the most excitement in the set coming during that span. With the score tied at 22-22 and Oregon State looking to score, Nady and Crittenden combined for a massive block, Oregon’s first of the set, to give tie the game at 22. The next point was jut as thrilling as the rally lasted long until Brenner dug a ball and then earned the kill with a well placed back row kill and give Oregon the lead.
Oregon State tied the set at 24 and 25 but a Brenner kill and another Beaver hitting error led to the final points and allowed the Ducks to escape the set with a 2-0 lead.
With all the drama taking place in the second set, the third set was extremely mild as both teams came out sloppy and gave each other free points. With the score at 10-9 in favor of Oregon, the Duck flew away from the Beavers to take a 20-9 lead in the third set. Shebby, who entered the third set with six kills and a negative hitting percentage, found her swing in the third set with seven kills, three of which came during Oregon’s run., to up her hitting percentage to .207.
After getting set point at 24-15, the Beavers went down swinging, going on a 4-0 run before Liz Brenner, possible Oregon’s most heralded player under Moore, ended the night with a kill and place Moore in the record books.
Defensively, Amanda Benson continued to shine in her role as libero as she has a match-high 17 kills while Brenner and Ashen added 14 and 17 respectively.