For the second consecutive night, the Oregon volleyball team remained competitive with a ranked opponent, but No. 3 Stanford withstood an early battle in game one to hand the Ducks their fourth straight Pacific-10 Conference loss Friday in front of a season-high 1,040 at McArthur Court.
The much-improved Ducks, despite losing in three games, 30-28, 30-15, 30-23; showed many positive signs against the Cardinal, the defending NCAA Champions and winners of 14 matches in a row.
Oregon captured an early 10-9 lead in the first game and traded points with Stanford until reaching a 28-28 tie to set up a dramatic finish.
But as great teams do, Stanford found a way to win. A service error by Oregon was followed with a kill by All-American outside hitter Kristen Richards to give the Cardinal a 30-28 win.
Though Oregon did improve on its serving, it was the Ducks’ four service errors compared with Stanford’s one that proved to be the difference in the first game.
Oregon committed only six total service errors against the Cardinal, a vast improvement considering Oregon committed 14 in four games against Stanford the previous night.
The Ducks out-hit Stanford 0.373 to 0.370 and had only four total errors in the first game.
“If we play like we did in the last two games against Cal (on Thursday) and first game tonight, we’re frightening,” Oregon first-year head coach Jim Moore said. “We can be very, very scary, and we have to play that way to be successful.”
Outside hitter Mira Djuric led the Oregon attack and showed why she is one of the Pac-10’s most highly regarded freshmen. The Serbian native, who entered the weekend ranked atop the Pac-10 in points per game with 5.48, finished with 10 kills and hit 0.769 for the initial game.
“They have a really good offense,” Stanford coach John Dunning said. “(Djuric) just about chewed us up all by herself in game one. If we don’t win that game, who knows where the match is going to go.”
Game one’s emotional loss seemed to take steam out of Oregon in game two as the Ducks came out flat, falling behind 7-1. A six-point run late in the game gave Stanford a comfortable 19-8 advantage and the eventual 30-15 win.
Oregon’s hitting percentage dropped to 0.026 while Stanford lifted its percentage to 0.400.
“It wasn’t the same team that was on the floor in game one,” Moore said. “We got flustered and (Stanford) got a run of points.”
The Ducks hit slightly better in game three (0.059) but after falling behind 6-1, got no closer than two points the rest of the way, losing 30-23.
Oregon had no answer for Richards, who hit 0.529 for the match and freshman Foluke Akinradewo who hit 0.444. The tandem combined for 35 kills.
“There are people that say they are better this year than they were last year,” said Moore, referring to a Stanford team that went 30-6 last season. “They’re great. They are going to put the ball on the floor a good amount of time.”
The Ducks did, however, hold Pac-10 kills leader Cynthia Barboza to only six total kills. The freshman is averaging 4.67 kills per game.
Oregon’s defense has been among the many surprises this season for Moore. The Ducks are averaging 2.7 blocks per game, a steady increase over last season’s average of 1.94 blocks per game.
Junior outside hitter Erin Little leads the team with 48 blocks this season after 15 matches. She had 21 blocks all of last year.
Freshman libero Katie Swoboda has also helped anchor the defense. She ranks among the conference’s top 10 with a team-high 220 digs, a 4.49 digs per game average.
“They played very well and have some good players on their team,” Dunning said.
Offensively against Stanford, Oregon’s Djuric finished the match by totaling a team-high 18 kills, giving her a total of 35 kills in the last two games. Senior Kelly Russell recorded 11 kills, while Swoboda led the Ducks defensively, compiling 13 digs.
Oregon (10-5 overall, 0-4 Pac-10) has another conference test when it travels to face No. 17 UCLA on Friday and No. 19 USC on Saturday. The Bruins and Trojans will be the Ducks fourth and fifth consecutive ranked opponents, respectively.

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