No. 10 seeded Oregon (22-9) volleyball dismantled Santa Clara (22-10) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday in straight sets. Not a fan in the packed Matthew Knight Arena was nervous as the Ducks trailed only once in the match, during the third and final set of the 25-15, 25-17, 25-16 sweep.
Oregon executed its gameplan to perfection and controlled the match with a balanced attack, where six Oregon hitters each amassed five or more kills. The Ducks also dominated on the defensive end and accumulated 15 team blocks, tying the Sept. 5 match at Hawaii for their highest total of the season.
“I told [the team] beforehand that their middles blockers aren’t going to beat us, so we focused on their pin blockers,” head coach Jim Moore said. “[Taylor] Milton can beat us, so we just camped on her all night long.”
Outside hitter Martenne Bettendorf and middle blocker Serena Warner and overwhelmed Milton and the Broncos, combining for an unprecedented 21 block assists. Warner’s 13 block assists were the most by a Duck in a single match since 1996, and tied for fifth-most in Oregon history. Bettendorf also led the match with 12 kills in her double-double.
“It was great and very rewarding,” Warner said. “We’ve been working on [blocking] all season, and we finally got to see it come to frution.”
Santa Clara, who finished third in the WCC with a 12-6 record, had a hard time getting anything past the hands of Warner and Bettendorf.
“We knew their defense was good, but tonight it looked even better,” Santa Clara head coach Jon Wallace said. “It’s our twelfth [NCAA tournament appearance] in my time coaching here and our group is very young, so I think we have a bright future ahead of us.”
Oregon appears to be hitting its stride despite suffering losses to Utah (19-12) and Oregon State (19-12) to close out the regular season. Its .367 hitting percentage was its highest total of the season.
Santa Clara ranks 29th nationally in team hitting percentage but collectively hit just .057. Factor out freshman middle blocker Kaity Edwards who smashed eight kills on no errors, and the rest of the Broncos hit a combined -0.02.
Oregon hit .400 or better in both of its first two sets and held Santa Clara to a hitting percentage of .079 or worse in all three sets.
Freshmen setter Maggie Scott and outside hitter Frankie Shebby, who each earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors, made their first career playoff starts and delivered strong performances. Scott led the team with 20 assists while Shebby totaled 7 kills on two errors.
Freshman middle blocker Taylor Agost also emerged with 6 kills and no errors after battling injuries all season.
Moore improved his NCAA tournament record to 12-7 as the head coach of the volleyball program, and the Ducks advance to round two of the tournament with a home match on Friday at 4:00 p.m. against LSU (20-8). LSU swept Oklahoma earlier today at Matthew Knight Arena, 25-14, 25-23, 25-22.
Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @kennyjacoby