Tonight just wasn’t the Ducks’ night. From the get-go, the Ducks were fighting from behind and this came as a surprise as they were heavily favored against the unranked California Golden Bears who came to steal a game from the No. 2-ranked Ducks.
It was simply a rough start for the No. 2-ranked Oregon volleyball team. After finding themselves down early in the first set, the Ducks rallied back to within one point of California late in the set with kills from Kat Fischer and Alaina Bergsma, but it just wasn’t enough as they gave up the first set since October to California.
The recently struggling California team came to play with a vengeance as they came to Matthew Knight Arena to come away with a late season upset. With what seemed to be a more energized team, California came out firing and the Ducks just couldn’t get their usual rhythm going. Whether they were looking too far ahead to Sunday’s matchup against the No.1 Stanford Cardinals or not, the Ducks simply weren’t themselves tonight.
In the second set, the Ducks found themselves in another hole as they trailed 0-5 early in the set. California rode their momentum from the first set and simply did not look back, as they continued to play well as a team. The Ducks managed to climb back late in the set to make it a 18-21 deficit, but California continued to pound away as they went on to win the second set 25-21.
The third set proved to be battle as both sides wouldn’t let up. With the Ducks leading the majority of the set, it was refreshing for the fans to see they had some fight left in them after being down 0-2. The set came down to the wire, however, as California made a late run to make it a 22-19 score and though the momentum seemed to be swinging in California’s favor once again, the Ducks managed to pull through to take the third set.
With newly found confidence and energy, the Ducks came out in the fourth set knowing that they were still in the game. Leading the recuperated Ducks was once again Miss Oregon, USA, Alaina Bergsma as she sparked her team with kill after kill. California wouldn’t let the game get away from them though as they stayed with the Ducks the entire set, but at the conclusion of the set, the Ducks found themselves in a tie at 2-2 as they pulled away in the final moments of the fourth set.
It was only natural that the fifth and final set came down to the wire as both teams gave every last bit of what they had to get the win. The story of the set was who had enough the tank to come out on top. California came out a little flat and looked fatigued after leading 2-0 early in the game. The Ducks came out looking like they were going to win this game as they held the lead the majority of the set, but after they led 10-9 before calling a timeout, California took advantage of a crucial rotation error on the Ducks and retook the lead to eventually take the fifth set and the game.
After the game Liz Brenner, who had a team high 26 kills, had this to say about the loss to California: “The first couple games we weren’t connecting with Lauren very well and that made it hard to run an offense when your hitters and setters aren’t connecting very well,” Brenner said. “I don’t think we overlooked them at all, we just didn’t come out fully ready tonight — pretty much every aspect was a little shaky,” she said. “We just need come back and be ready for Sunday.”
Alaina Bergsma added to Brenner’s comments by saying, “We knew this would be a key win for them tonight and we just didn’t have it tonight,” she said. “I don’t we made that many mistakes they out blocked us I think we got a little set on where we were gonna hit and that made us struggle hitting, but they served really well and got us a little out of system.”
For Coach Jim Moore, this was simply a lack of effort. “Real disappointing, obviously a lack of focus and it caught me by surprise,” Coach Moore said. “We didn’t show it all week in practice and we just didn’t have the focus coming out and that’s very disappointing,” he said. In regards to this Sunday’s matchup against the No. 1 Stanford Cardinals Coach Moore said, “We’re gonna find out what were made of it will be huge.”
“We don’t control our own destiny so we’re gonna have to do some special things,” Moore said.
Turning point. In such a closely played match, one moment could have swung the momentum and match in either side’s favor and that came in the closing moments of the fifth set. The Ducks found themselves up 10-9 late in the fifth set after a service error on California and were looking to put them away, but they were charged with a rotation error which gave California the lead once again. This proved to be a vital moment in a heated game and after fighting so hard in the final set, the Ducks eventually fell to California 13-15 as they record their second loss of the year.
On the horizon. Next for the Ducks is their toughest test of the season thus far. This Sunday, Nov. 4, the No. 2 Ducks will face off against the No. 1 Stanford Cardinals in what will be both the Pac-12 and national matchup of the year in Eugene, Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena. You won’t want to miss this game so be sure to make time.