After losing its first Pac-12 match 3-0 to Washington, No. 15 Oregon responded with a 3-1 victory over host Washington State Saturday.@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&KEY=&SPID=234&SPSID=4284@@
The Ducks (12-2, 5-1 Pac-12) moved past their first shutout loss of the season by playing well against a determined Washington State squad.@@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/Volleyball/Standings.aspx@@
“Washington State played absolutely the best they can possibly play, which is a good thing,” Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “We were able to take care of what we needed to take care of.”@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=234&SPSID=4285@@
Oregon took care of business thanks in no small part to the heroics of Alaina Bergsma. After struggling through a miniature slump (Bergsma hit under .200 in the three games leading into Saturday’s clash with Washington State), Oregon’s junior outside hitter tallied a career-high 27 kills and hit .371 against the Cougars. More importantly, when the game was on the line, Bergsma played her best. In the decisive fourth set, she notched 10 kills, ending any Cougar hopes at an upset.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=234&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205305127@@@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=234&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205305126@@
“She kind of decided halfway through the match, especially in the fourth game, that we’re not losing,” Moore said. “She took over game four. In my opinion, it was one of the best matches for her to step up and say ‘I’m taking this over. Just set me every ball, and we’re going to get this over with.’”
Bergsma had help, of course. Middle blocker Ariana Williams had 10 kills and hit .227, outside hitter Katherine Fischer notched 11 kills and three service aces, and setter Lauren Plum recorded three kills and 54 assists.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=234&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205305127@@
“I think we played with a lot of energy, which helped us,” Bergsma said. “I feel like I was really able to connect with Lauren, and her passing was much better than it had been against Washington.”
Washington State, which hit .242 as a team, was led by Meagan Ganzer, who hit .279 and had a team-high 26 kills. Containing Ganzer, one of the top outside hitters in the nation, was a good test for an Oregon team which will face its fair share of elite hitters throughout conference play.@@http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QfgnwYq9nU@@
“I think just having to play a team and really having to control one player, the Pac-12 is about outside hitters, so I think that was just a good step coming up to these next few weekends,” Bergsma said.
The victory was Oregon’s 11th straight over Washington State.
Despite intense preparation, the Ducks weren’t nearly as successful the previous night against No. 3 Washington. The Huskies swept Oregon 25-23, 25-17, 28-26. Though the Ducks had some success executing their game plan, they were unable to match up against Washington in all facets of the game.
“I think we’re disappointed for sure,” Moore said. “We felt very, very prepared for Washington, and we actually did all the things that we needed to do to win, except for the things that we normally do. I think we’re a very good serving and passing team, but we did not serve and pass well the whole weekend.”
That could have made the difference in a match that was closer than the final totals indicated. Both the first and third sets went down to the wire and were ripe for the taking.
“Had we served and passed the way we normally served and passed, they wouldn’t have even been that close,” Moore said. “We would have been able to run away with it.”
Indeed, the Ducks only had one service ace against seven service errors and made 24 hitting errors.
“I think it just came down to execution,” Bergsma said. “I think they played really well, and I think in some ways it was kind of just a wake-up call for us.”
Oregon will need to be ready next weekend as it hosts No. 4 Cal and No. 6 Stanford. Last season, the Ducks went 0-4 against the Bay Area schools.@@http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1@@