Oregon faced some major barricades as the team traveled north to face Washington and Washington State last weekend. Two were overcome.
Until Saturday night, the Ducks had gone 26 Pacific-10 Conference matches without a victory. Oregon’s struggling
offense against league opponents showed new life with a streak-ending win against Washington State, 3-0 (30-20, 30-23, 30-27). The Cougars’ stretch of 24-straight wins against Oregon, dating back to 1990, also
disintegrated in Bohler Gym.
The first obstacle came Friday night against the undefeated second-ranked Huskies, who sit atop the Pac-10 in almost every discipline. The Ducks were
silenced by Washington in three games (30-19, 30-15, 30-25) and diverted to the eastern side of the state.
The biggest challenge was in the form of a question: How would Oregon fare against its Pac-10 opponents without senior outside hitter Lauren Westendorf? The 1-1 road trip provided the answer.
“I could not be happier for the team,” Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said following Saturday’s match. “This was the not the easiest week for us, playing without Lauren, but we were extremely focused.”
Oregon (9-4 overall, 1-2 Pac-10) overshadowed the Cougars in Saturday’s match, with better numbers in every aspect of the game other than blocking.
The Ducks outperformed Washington State in hitting percentage at .242 to .199, and kills at 51-40. The Cougars had seven team blocks, compared to 6.5 by Oregon.
Outside hitter Sarah Mason had 19 kills (.326), tying her
career-high that had already been revised earlier this season against Oregon State.
“Sarah came up huge for us,” Ferreira said. “We needed her to step up and be our leading
attacker and she did just that.”
Sophomores Erin Little and Heather Madison each had nine kills against the Cougars. For Madison, that statistic signifies a new career-best, building on the setter’s previous mark of five kills. Madison posted a .818 hitting percentage and 33 assists.
Senior libero Katie O’Neil kept her team’s morale high and covered the court vigilantly, resulting in a match-high 14 digs.
“Katie’s ability to stay mentally strong throughout the
entire match gave us a huge boost,” Ferreira said.
Sophomore middle blocker Kim McNally produced four of Oregon’s seven service aces. The Ducks had seven service errors as well.
Washington State (3-13 overall, 0-4 Pac-10) was led by sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Todd with 12 kills on 35 attempts (.114).
On Friday, the Ducks were treading water as Washington restricted them to a season-low .126 hitting percentage in the match. Oregon hit only .032 in the second game.
The Huskies were led by junior outside hitter Brie Hagerty with 19 kills (.607). Freshman Christal Morrison posted 13 kills and senior Sanja Tomasevic added 10. Washington hit .442 as a team in its home-opener. Setter Courtney Thompson had 51 assists.
Mason had a team-high 10 kills and seven errors (.068) for Oregon. Little tallied seven kills and nine digs, while O’Neil recorded eight digs.
McNally had Oregon’s only service ace in that match. Washington had five total.
“This was our first game without Lauren,” Ferreira said after the loss. “Our girls responded to the loss of Lauren and battled hard. We played a solid game, but Washington played that much better.”
Oregon returns to McArthur Court this weekend to face Arizona State on Friday and Arizona on Saturday in Pac-10 action.

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