Stephanie Martin played large for the Ducks against the No. 4 Cardinal last night, but it wasn’t enough as Stanford (10-1 overall, 4-0 Pacific-10 Conference) swept Oregon in three straight games (30-23, 30-22, 30-20).
Martin, a junior, led the Ducks (8-6, 0-5) with 11 kills and a .643 hitting percentage. Stanford’s Logan Tom overmatched the Oregon women, recording a match-high 14 kills.
“We came out and played with tremendous energy at the beginning, which was encouraging,” Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said. “Our serve-and-passing game was three execution plays away, and that was the difference in the match.”
Ferreira alluded to the Ducks’ strong play in game three. After digging a hole for themselves by falling behind the Cardinal 15-7, Ferreira’s squad fought back, winning six of the next seven points to put themselves within striking distance at 16-13. It wasn’t enough, though, as the Cardinal came back to win by 10.
“(Oregon) is full of resilience, and that’s what I like about them,” Ferreira added. “We knew we had to play with a lot of energy, and we did that.”
Sophomore outside hitter Lindsay Murphy also played strong for the Ducks. She led the team with eight digs and added two blocks in the match.
“We played a lot better as a team tonight, even though it wasn’t a win,” Murphy said.

Golden Bears come calling
California looms as the second match of the weekend for the Ducks, with Ferreira’s squad traveling to Berkeley, Calif. tonight. The Golden Bears (4-5, 0-3) defeated St. Mary’s on Tuesday, but has not looked strong in conference play. In addition, the Bay Area squad is the only Pac-10 team other than the Ducks that has yet to record a win in conference play.
The Golden Bears are led by senior setter Candace McNamee, who is seventh in the Pac-10 in assists per game (11.26). She is also third all-time on the Cal career list with 2,968 assists.
Ferreira has stressed team play all season, and if the Ducks can do that tonight against the Golden Bears, Oregon may pull off its first Pac-10 win of the season.
“If we play (tonight) with the mentality we played with (last night), and cut down some of our serve and passing mistakes, we’ll do fine,” Martin said.
Cal swept the Ducks last season, although the first match proved to be one for the ages. Oregon played the Bears strong in that match, losing in five games (15-13, 11-15, 14-16, 15-13, 26-24) at McArthur Court.
Tonight’s match at Haas Pavilion is set to start at 7 p.m.

Tobbagi visits the Bay Area for the last time
Tonight marks the last match senior Monique Tobbagi will play in the Bay Area as a collegiate player. The San Jose, Calif., native said she grew up watching Stanford as a child, and has looked forward to visiting the Cardinal and Golden Bears for the last time.
“It’s exciting going home, getting to play in front of family and friends,” she said. “That always gets your adrenaline going.”
While a standout at Archbishop Mitty High School, Tobbagi led the Monarchs to the NorCal Championship and a berth in the state finals as a senior.
Her collegiate career would be no different, combining for 19 kills and 11 digs at Stanford and Cal last season, but she has never beaten the Cardinal. In 1998, her first season at Oregon, she helped lead the Ducks to their 12th overall win against Cal, but has not beaten them since.
When asked if she is going to miss playing as a Duck in the Bay Area, a stoic Tobbagi said there could be no other way.
“It’s a sad thing, but at the same time it’s been a great career and I’ve had a fun time doing it.”