Who needs veteran leadership?
In the season’s first month, No. 15 Oregon’s volleyball team is getting along just fine despite having only one upperclassman in its playing rotation.
After rolling through its non-conference schedule undefeated, the Ducks (14-0, 2-0) began Pacific-10 Conference play last weekend with a home sweep of No. 7 Washington and Washington State.
The victory over Washington was particularly noteworthy. Not only had the Huskies not dropped a set all season before traveling to Eugene — Washington hadn’t lost to Oregon at McArthur Court in ten years.
Both of those streaks ended Saturday, and Alaina Bergsma was a big reason why. A redshirt sophomore transfer from Loyola Marymount, Bergsma had 21 kills and an impressive .559 hitting percentage against a usually stifling Husky defense.
“She was awesome,” Duck coach Jim Moore said. “(Hitting) .559 against one of he best defensive teams in the country … she’s awesome.”
Bergsma’s seven kills helped the Ducks claim the match’s first set, 25-20. But Washington bounced back, dominating the second set 25-13.
While panic could have easily stricken the young Ducks squad at that point, Moore tried to keep perspective.
“I actually didn’t worry about game two,” Moore said. “I went downstairs and I said it’s one game so it’s tied up one apiece. I don’t think we thought we were going to beat them in three (sets) anyway so let’s just go out and play.”
The Ducks took Moore’s advice to heart. After edging Washington in the third set 25-20, the two teams battled back and forth through an epic fourth set that saw 15 ties and eight lead changes.
With Oregon trailing 28-27, sophomore Katherine Fischer took matters into her powerful right arm. She put away three straight kills to end the match and set off a boisterous celebration.
Fischer had 15 kills on the evening, while senior Heather Meyers had 14. Freshman Lauren Plum was a dynamic offensive force with 49 assists and several critical kills late in the match.
The Ducks’ strong defense kept Washington stars Kindra Carlson and Becky Perry in check. Libero Haley Jacob was particularly strong, coming up with multiple athletic digs.
“Haley dug balls at the end that were awesome,” Moore said. “Haley, she was great.”
Oregon faced less adversity Friday night in a 3-0 shutout of Washington State. In fact, Moore thought the Cougars were off their game from the start thanks to an energetic Duck crowd.
“The whole pit crew, they were awesome today,” Moore said. “The combination of the pit crew, and the whole band was great. I really felt like Washington State was intimidated early.”
A few key defensive stands in the match’s first set didn’t hurt, either. Cougar star Meagan Ganzer was stuffed by Oregon outside hitter Jocelyn Levig several times in the match’s first few points as the Ducks cruised to a 25-19 first set win.
“(It was) really important,” Moore said. “Jocelyn did a great job early blocking. I was absolutely thrilled to death. I really felt Jocelyn was a key to the way we played.”
Katherine Fischer played an equally important role in the Duck’s victory. In Oregon’s 10-0 run to open the second set, Fischer had five aces.
“Those were nasty serves,” Moore said. “They were very, very tough.”
Washington State was unable to recover from the ten-point deficit and showed little resistance in losing the final two sets 25-13 and 25-15, respectively.
“I think that we just played really solid and we played consistently,” Levig said. “This was probably the most consistent we played all season so we’re really happy about that.”
Bergsma led the team in kills with 12, Fischer had 11, and Meyers chipped in nine. Levig contributed two solo blocks and five blocks assists while Plum notched 38 assists.
The Ducks hope to continue their unbeaten streak next weekend, but will face a tough test. Oregon will visit the Bay Area to battle No. 1 Stanford and No. 8 California.
[email protected]
No. 15 Oregon stays undefeated, sweeps Washington and Washington State
Daily Emerald
September 26, 2010
0
More to Discover