The Oregon volleyball team’s school-record 14-match win streak is history.
The No. 11 Ducks (14-2, 2-2 Pacific-10 Conference) suffered their first two losses of the 2010 season this weekend, getting shut out by No. 8 California (14-0, 4-0 Pac-10) and No. 1 Stanford (13-0, 4-0).
To make matters worse, the Ducks weren’t competitive in either defeat.
On Friday, Oregon dropped its first match of the season, 25-16, 25-14, 25-16 to Cal. The Bears took control of the match from the onset and didn’t let up.
“Cal was awesome,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said. “Cal played unbelievably well, and they handed it to us. We weren’t prepared. We looked like a very young team on the road.”
That manifested itself in the Ducks’ woeful .051 hitting percentage — the team’s lowest of the season.
Senior Heather Meyers was a lone offensive bright spot, hitting a team high .219 to go along with 11 kills, but the Ducks’ offense was out of sync.
“We struggled passing, and it’s hard to run a good hitting offense with not so great passing,” Meyers said. “I know we struggled in that, and that didn’t help our hitting.”
The Ducks’ defense had an up-and-down night. Though the floor defense was strong (Oregon held Cal to a .300 hitting percentage — well below the Bears’ .347 season average) the Ducks only had six blocks.
“I actually thought our floor defense was pretty good Friday night against Cal, but it was only our floor defense,” Moore said. “Our blocking struggled a lot.”
Part of the reason for that was Oregon’s serving. The Ducks failed to score an ace for the first time all year, allowing the Bears the opportunity to comfortably set up their offense.
“We didn’t serve well enough,” Moore said. “We didn’t put any pressure on them to allow our defense to play. If you don’t put pressure on them serving right from the beginning, then you’re in trouble.”
Although a veteran team may have been able to put the disappointing loss to Cal behind them, the Ducks seemed to carry the lingering effects into Saturday’s contest against No. 1 Stanford.
“After the Cal game, I think a lot of the girls did look kind of down,” Meyers said. “I think they took it too hard on themselves.”
The Ducks lost the first two sets to Stanford 25-10 and 25-16 as the weekend began to slip further away.
“I was very concerned during the Stanford match that we had completely lost all of our confidence,” Moore said.
Oregon seemed to regain its footing in the third set. Although the Ducks dropped the set 25-21, the team hit .290 — a high for the road trip — while mustering 13 kills.
Perhaps more importantly, the team might have regained some of its shattered confidence.
“We lost the first two sets handily, and then I think we finally recovered,” Moore said. “In game three I was much more pleased because I was actually pretty concerned about the way we were playing, but at least now I hope we’re better off.”
Same as against Cal, the Ducks’ blocking defense struggled versus a powerful Cardinal attack. Led by three-time All-American Alix Klineman, Stanford hit .443 and notched 46 kills.
“I don’t think we really blocked anything at Stanford,” Meyers said. “They were hitting right past the block, and we’re trying to dig every ball.”
Conversely, the Duck offense fared pretty well against the Cardinal. Oregon hit .223, the second-highest mark by a Stanford opponent this season.
Meyers paced the Oregon attack with 12 kills and 12 points, while sophomores Alaina Bergsma and Katherine Fischer added seven kills apiece.
The Ducks will look to carry that momentum into a home series against the Arizona schools. Oregon will play Arizona State at 7 p.m. on Friday and then battle Arizona at 7 p.m. Saturday.
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