CORVALLIS — Oregon State’s Gill Coliseum was filled with smiles Friday night — and they weren’t on the faces of Beaver fans.
In a much-needed confidence booster, the Oregon volleyball squad won its first Pacific-10 Conference match of the season and redeemed an earlier-season loss by sweeping its Civil War rival in front of 1,387 fans in Corvallis. The match was broadcast live on Fox Sports Northwest.
“I am just ecstatic for these players,” head coach Carl Ferreira said after snapping a six-match losing skid. “Amy [Banducci], Halie [Mazza], ‘Mo [Monique Tobbagi] and Julie [Gerlach] are the reason we are here, and I am really happy for them.”
After defeating the California-Riverside Highlanders Sunday, the Ducks are 9-10 overall and 1-9 in the Pac-10.
“This is a brand new team,” said Banducci, a senior outside hitter who tallied eight kills and 25 digs in the two matches. “We’re finally putting together what we knew we had. This was huge. It proves that we can play in this conference, and gives us a big confidence booster.”
After a 15-10 win in game one, Oregon found itself down by two late in the second to the Beavers. But three straight kills by Mazza and a service ace by Tobbagi gave the Ducks a 12-11 lead, and they eventually headed into the intermission with a 15-13 win.
“I thought game two was critical,” Ferreira said. “It didn’t allow them to gain momentum heading into the locker room. Before game three we reiterated what we had learned since the last time we played them and were ahead 2-0.”
Flashback to Sept. 19 at McArthur Court: The Ducks appeared to be on their way to a win over the Beavers with a two-game lead, but Oregon State battled back to win 3-2.
Alas, another come-from-behind victory was not in store for the Beavers this time, as the Ducks rolled past its rival in game three by posting a .405 attack percentage. An ace by freshman Lindsay Murphy and a kill by sophomore setter Sydney Chute sealed the 15-3 victory.
“It is a sense of relief,” said Ferreira, who won his first conference game. “Our confidence was taken away from us in the first half of the Pac-10. But I’ve been saying all along that I didn’t think we were far from what we wanted to do … The fact that this was the Civil War adds to the momentum we can utilize.”
Tobbagi committed just three errors and posted a .368 clip to lead the Ducks with 17 kills.
“She was a stud,” Ferreira said of the junior outside hitter. “She was very patient tonight and didn’t press at the wrong times.”
Gerlach and Chute combined for 34 assists and 33 of Oregon’s 130 total attacks.
“We’re clicking right now,” Gerlach said. “We’re just having a lot of fun and connecting well together.”
Overall, Oregon held the Beavers to a .123 hitting percentage and out-blocked the rival 10-6.
“We were much more focused coming into this game,” Tobbagi said. “We played together as a team and this win definitely builds confidence for the second half of the Pac-10.”
Despite starting a little sluggish, the Ducks were able to pick up their second sweep in as many games against UC-Riverside Sunday (15-11, 15-3, 15-12). The consecutive wins were Oregon’s first since 1991.
Tobbagi’s 18 kills and .341 attack percentage paced the Ducks. Mazza had no errors and recorded nine kills, nine digs, five blocks and a .346 attack percentage.
The Highlanders (2-18) were held to a minus-.156 clip in game two and a .132 percentage overall.
The Ducks are the top serving team in the Pac-10 and showed why this weekend. A total of 13 aces were served up by Oregon against the Beavers and UC-Riverside, including four by Chute, who is second in the conference in service aces.
“We’ve been working on not missing our service opportunities,” Mazza said. “We have a variety of serves, and I think our tempo throws them off a little.”
The Ducks have a huge test at the end of the week when No. 4 USC and No. 10 UCLA come to town. Oregon was swept by both teams in Los Angeles earlier this season.
“We have nothing to lose now,” Mazza said. “We just have to go out with the same intensity and play hard.”
Banducci said Oregon’s newly found confidence has brought together many of the team’s key components.
“They [USC and UCLA] are not expecting this team,” Banducci said. “Our offense is flowing well, which allows Halie and ‘Mo to just rip the ball.”