The Oregon volleyball team is unlikely to treasure its trip to visit to the University of Arizona. For the second consecutive year, the Ducks lost to the Wildcats in Tucson, Ariz., this time in five games.
Oregon (17-6, 7-6 Pac-10) started well with a 31-29 win in game 1. The momentum didn’t last. The Ducks lost game 2 30-25 and narrowly won game 3, 30-26.
“This was the first time in a long time that we have worried about mistakes, and it cost us,” said head coach Jim Moore in an Oregon press release. “We dwelled on missed points instead of looking ahead to the next opportunity to score.”
Arizona (11-15, 2-12) and Oregon stood tied at 15 in the fourth game when the Wildcats went on a 15-8 run to win the game 30-23.
“They passed great in game 4 and we failed to put pressure on them with our serving,” Moore said. “They got in a rhythm and every ball they touched turned to gold.”
Arizona took the first three points of game 5 before Oregon responded. Oregon earned three of the next four points but Arizona’s 6-0 run gave the Wildcats an insurmountable 10-3 lead.
Freshman middle blocker Sonja Newcombe guided Oregon’s attack with 20 kills against a team that recruited her. Senior Erin Little contributed 15 kills and sophomore Mira Djuric had 14 kills. Little hit .231 for the match and Djuric .258. Libero Katie Swoboda made a match-high 26 digs.
Arizona’s Whitney Dosty led all players with 29 kills.
Oregon has another opportunity to pick up a win Friday night against Arizona State (12-13, 4-10) in Tempe, Ariz.
– Jeffrey Dransfeldt