The No. 7 Oregon Ducks (14-3 overall, 3-2 Pacific-10 Conference) got their third straight win against a ranked opponent Sunday, beating rival and No. 24 Oregon State (12-6, 1-4) three sets to none in front of 2,159 at McArthur Court.
Oregon State, which climbed into the rankings after last week’s win over then-No. 4 USC, couldn’t handle Oregon’s multi-faceted attack. Led by senior Gorana Maricic, the Ducks swept the Beavers by scores of 25-20, 25-23, and 25-14.
Maricic, who is the team leader in kills this season, extended her total with a game-high of 20. She also scored all three set-winning kills.
“We just came out as a team,” junior Nevena Djordjevic said. “We went for every ball and tried our hardest. It really showed at the end.”
Djordjevic had a match-high 40 assists and was in part why Oregon made 50 kills to Oregon State’s 37.
“Nevena is a great setter,” fellow Serbian and teammate Maricic said. “I give her all the credit for our good hitting. She can put the ball on one blocker, and that’s really hard to do.”
Oregon State looked overmatched for most of the day, allowing Oregon to hit .380, but never quite went away in the first two sets.
Early in the first set Oregon went up 3-1, but the Beavers came back to tie the score at nine apiece. Oregon State continued to put the pressure on the Ducks, going up by three points at 16-13. However, two kills by sophomore Heather Meyers spurred a Duck rally that led to a 5-0 run.
The Ducks distanced themselves in the final seven points, winning 25-20 on a Maricic kill. The .111 hitting percentage by the Beavers was close to their lowest of the season, and the eight errors they made helped Oregon come from behind.
The second set was much closer than the first. The game to 25 featured 15 tie scores, and five lead changes, including eight ties in the last 18 points.
“Oregon State played extremely well in the second set,” head coach Jim Moore said. “They only gave us three points in that set, and it took 19 kills from us to beat them. That’s really tough. Give them credit for playing hard.”
Even in the last two points of the game, the Ducks had to work. After a long rally, Meyers spiked the ball down the middle for point No. 24, and then Maricic got the set-winning kill off a pass from Djordjevic.
The Beavers were spent after the second set. With the Beavers down two sets, Oregon poured on the effort, out-hitting Oregon State .342 to .118. The beginning of the end started with a 9-1 run that put Oregon up 14-6.
Oregon State’s Rachel Rourke tried to bring her team back, nailing three straight kills to get the score within five, but after two kills by junior Neticia Enesi, the victory was sealed. The Ducks ended the match with a 4-0 run, and fittingly, Maricic had the final kill.
“Gorana played great,” Moore said. “Oregon State did a good job at blocking the middle against Neticia and Kristen (Forristall), so we let Gorana and Sonja (Newcombe) loose.”
Moore was referring to Oregon State’s strategy of focusing on the middle of the floor instead of the outside. The Beavers double- and triple-blocked Enesi and Forristall, leaving Oregon’s outside hitters wide open.
“I was really surprised that they left Maricic free,” Moore said. “When you have as many good hitters as we do, it’s tough to defend.”
Newcombe, the Pac-10 and National Player of the Week, contributed 10 kills and six digs in the victory, and Meyers had nine kills and seven digs. Senior Katie Swoboda was also in prime form, with a match-high 20 digs.
Next up for Oregon is a trip to Washington. The Ducks play No. 10 Washington on Friday in Seattle at 7 p.m., then Washington State in Pullman on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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