After completing the upset against UCLA last week, Ducks volleyball kept its NCAA tournament hopes alive with a win over Washington State on Wednesday night. Oregon took down the Cougars in four sets, 25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 25-17.
The win was a crucial first step for the Ducks, who struggled to finish sets earlier this season, ultimately leaving them fighting to stay alive. But with tonight’s win, Oregon’s record advanced to 14-12, 8-9 Pac-12, and put the Ducks one step closer to another tournament appearance.
“We’re playing a lot better now,” Frankie Shebby, Oregon’s leading scorer of the night, said. “It’s a lot more fun to be out there.”
To start the fun, Oregon breezed through the first set with help from Shebby. The sophomore scored five kills in the set and helped the Ducks to the mid-set lead, 15-13. Oregon closed out the opening set with Lindsey Vander Weide’s fourth kill of the night, 25-20.
“When it comes down to it, everyone was a lot more focused,” Shebby said. “It’s really helping out a lot.”
The Cougars lost the first set, but they fought early in the second set and took the 11-7 lead. Oregon clawed its way back with more help from Shebby and an extra push from Taylor Agost. The outsides added four kills each to push the Ducks to a narrow 25-23 set victory.
“Frankie stepped in and played awesome,” head coach Jim Moore said.
Washington State turned the tables in the fourth set with a 25-17 win. Serve-receive was Oregon’s downfall, as the Cougars pummeled Oregon’s libero until they earned the set point, 25-17.
“We just didn’t have that focus in the third set that we had in the first two,” Moore said.
Oregon returned to the court for the final set with some gusto, gaining the 4-1 advantage with two kills by Martenne Bettendorf. Vander Weide added her 11th kill of the night to hold the Ducks’ 12-5 advantage and scored the match-winning kill.
Shebby was Wednesday’s star, though, as she finished the night with 15 kills, leading the Ducks and scoring her season-high. For her, the key was to take a calm approach and get out of her own head.
“I just took a step back and went back to how I normally play,” Shebby said.
Oregon has just three matches remaining this season and needs to keep that calm approach to win at least two matches. Two of its upcoming games are against top-25 opponents Washington and Arizona State. Two more wins would give the Ducks a good shot at making the postseason tournament, a bid they haven’t missed since 2010.
Oregon will play the first of its final three matches Friday at Matthew Knight Arena against Washington at 4 p.m.
Follow Madison Layton on Twitter @MadisonLayton01