Nothing in the state of Arizona comes easy for the Oregon volleyball team and Thursday night was no different.
This time Oregon emerged with the win – its first match won against Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. since 1996. They did it in four games, but twice had to use extra points to win games.
Oregon ups it’s record to 13-2 overall (2-1 in Pacific-10 Conference) with the 3-1 victory, with scores of 30-23, 40-42, 30-25 and 32-30. Arizona State drops to .500 overall at 8-8, 0-3 in conference.
“I am very proud of this team tonight,” head coach Jim Moore said in a media release. “We were on the road and found ourself trailing at times, but this group didn’t panic. They were able to regroup and grind out wins. Especially after an exhausting game two, we were able to put the third and fourth games away when we needed to.”
Gorana Maricic gave the Ducks another standout performance with 26 kills, 13 digs and two solo blocks. Arizona State’s Sarah Reaves had a match-high 28 kills and Marina Mercer had 72 assists.
Oregon’s win required a comeback from a 6-2 deficit in the opening frame. The Ducks squared the score at seven on a kill by Maricic and an attack error by Arizona State’s Staci Smith. Oregon pushed ahead by five, 15-10, on a block by Sonja Newcombe and Neticia Enesi. The Ducks later extended the lead to nine, 25-16, before winning, 30-23 on a Maricic kill.
Neither team held a lead larger than three points throughout game two. They reached 30 points, the typical end of a game, and kept going until, tied at 40, a kill by Reaves and a block by Mercer and Smith clinched the game for Arizona State.
In game three, Oregon built a 16-10 lead off a kill by Newcombe and an attack error by Arizona State’s Sara Todorovich. The lead grew to nine, 21-12, on a kill by Rachel Morris and Arizona State only pulled within five by the time Oregon won, 30-25, on an attack error by Reaves.
Oregon clinched the match in game four. They trailed 9-4 and continued trailing until the Ducks tied Arizona State at 22 on a Maricic kill. The Sun Devils pushed Oregon to game point, 29-27, on a Maricic attack error before Newcombe answered with consecutive kills. Newcombe’s kill gave Oregon a 31-30 lead and a block by Enesi and Nevena Djordjevic won the match.
Newcombe contributed 19 kills for Oregon. Djordjevic had 43 assists and Morris had 18. Karen Waddington had three solo blocks.
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