Olympian Logan Tom overpowered the Oregon volleyball team Thursday night to lead the Stanford Cardinal to a 3-0 sweep in Palo Alto, Calif.
In the losing effort, junior hitter Monique Tobbagi led Oregon (10-16 overall, 2-15 Pacific-10 Conference) with nine kills, seven digs and three blocks. In the final road trip of her four-year career, senior Amy Banducci aided the Ducks with eight kills.
Heading into Thursday’s game, Banducci and the Ducks wanted to avenge a loss in the season’s first match on Sept. 14. In that first game, Banducci “could taste” an upset in a five-game loss to the then-11th ranked team.
The Ducks, however, could taste nothing Thursday night — except the bitterness of defeat.
Tom, who missed the beginning of the season while she competed in the Olympics in Sydney, notched a match-high 17 kills and a .636 attack percentage. No. 21 Stanford (16-11, 9-8) hit .372 on the night and outblocked Oregon 8-4.
The Ducks were held to a .183 hitting percentage in game one after Stanford jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead. Two consecutive scores brought Oregon within five points at 8-13, but that’s the closest it got as the Cardinal rolled, 15-8.
In game two, Oregon showed its tenacity against a team that it has not beaten since 1989. Stanford took a commanding 7-0 lead and appeared to have secured an easy win with a 14-3 lead — but the Ducks didn’t give up. Fighting off six game points, head coach Carl Ferreira’s squad came within two points at 12-14. Stanford, however, would not give up its seventh opportunity, closing the door at 15-12. Overall, the Ducks hit .250 in the game.
Following intermission, the Cardinal didn’t mess around. Taking advantage of Oregon errors and some timely blocking, Stanford cruised to a 15-5 victory in game three, giving it the match, 3-0.
In the last Pac-10 match of the year, Oregon travels to Berkeley tonight to take on the California Golden Bears (10-15, 5-12), another team that needed five games to defeat the Ducks earlier in the season. The Bears lost to Oregon State — a team the Ducks have beaten — 3-2 Thursday night.
Banducci has said that she desperately wants to finish her career in a Duck uniform with a victory. A win would give Oregon its most victories since the 1996 season, when the Ducks were 11-20 overall.