It was, as Oregon head coach Jim Moore saw it, the No. 16 Ducks’ best series of the year. Facing top-caliber competition in USC and UCLA, Oregon showed up ready to compete.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205314348@@
“They were both great matches,” Moore said. “All three teams played very, very well. They were really close and really tight, and they were as good of volleyball as I had ever seen in my career.”
But against a pair of top-10 teams, even Oregon’s best wasn’t quite good enough.
The Ducks lost 3-1 to the No. 3 Women of Troy and 3-1 to the No. 6 Bruins over the weekend, dropping Oregon’s record to 12-6 and 5-5 in Pac-12 play.@@http://www.pac-12.org/Portals/7/images/wvolleyball/2011-Stats/HTML/ORE.HTM@@
On Friday at Southern California, Oregon fell 25-15, 25-27, 25-23, 25-21.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4287&SPID=234&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205316676&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
Statistically, the match was nearly a dead heat. Although the Women of Troy outhit the Ducks .242 – .155, the Ducks had slight advantages in team blocks and digs.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4287&SPID=234&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205316676&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
After USC won the first set with relative ease, Oregon bounced back in the second, building a huge lead before holding on to edge the Women of Troy. In the critical third set, it was USC that jumped out on top, leading 16-8 midway through the set. Oregon eventually closed the deficit to 24-23, but USC won the crucial set point.
It was that type of weekend for the Ducks.
“Both matches were so evenly played that the stats were almost meaningless,” Moore said. “It just came down to who was going to win a crucial point at a given time.”
USC never trailed in the fourth set and wrapped up the victory. Alex Jupiter led the Women of Troy by hitting .314 and notching 22 kills, while Ariana Williams led Oregon with 15 kills and a .414 hitting percentage.@@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2011-2012/101411.html@@
“I think we also played pretty well. We just did the same thing: ball-handling errors, making silly mistakes, not being focused throughout,” Williams said.
The script played out in much the same fashion Saturday evening in a 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 25-19 loss to UCLA.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4287&SPID=234&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205317490&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
After splitting the first two sets, the Ducks had a golden opportunity to take control of the match in the third. Trailing 16-12, Oregon won seven straight points to go ahead 19-16. However the Bruins responded to win the next six points to go ahead 22-19 and seize control of the set and for all effective purposes, the match.@@grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ucla/…/UCLAWVB10Release14.pdf@@
“Whoever won game three was going to win the match,” Moore said. “(We had) our run, and then they came right back.”
UCLA grabbed control of the fourth set midway through, using a 6-2 spurt to go ahead 10-8 and never trailed thereafter.@@grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ucla/…/UCLAWVB10Release14.pdf@@
Alaina Bergsma led Oregon with 14 kills, Liz Brenner had 13 and Kat Fischer and Williams added 11 each. Rachael Kidder (17 kills, .235) and Tabi Love (16 kills, .387) led UCLA’s offensive effort.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4287&SPID=234&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205317490&DB_OEM_ID=500@@@@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2011-2012/wvb1119.html@@
The Bruins outhit Oregon .224 to .129 for the match.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4287&SPID=234&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205317490&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
“They’re a pretty good defensive team,” Williams said. “But we knew that going into it.”
Despite the pair of losses, Moore was pleased with his team’s effort. It took the best showing of two of the nation’s top teams to edge a determined Oregon squad.
“This is by far the best series we’ve played,” Moore said. “It’s frustrating that we played so well and couldn’t come away with a victory. They were at home and played exceptionally well, and in some ways that’s a little unfortunate. ”
On the other hand, Oregon’s remaining schedule is manageable — five of the Ducks’ next six opponents are unranked. If Oregon continues to play as they have been, they should rack up a number of wins in the second half of Pac-12 play.
“We need to just maintain this level of play, and we’ll be okay,” Moore said.
Oregon will return home next weekend to face Washington and Washington State.