The No.2 Oregon Ducks volleyball team got their 12th win on Friday night to remain undefeated, winning in straight sets against Utah. Miss Oregon, Alaina Bergsma, once again put her incredible talent on display at Matthew Knight Arena, tallying 16 kills on 35 attempts. The night, however, belonged to head coach Jim Moore and his 500th career victory.
After the game, Moore refused to take credit or even place value on the feat.
“If you would have told me I have 499 wins after the victory at USC I would have looked at you like you’re nuts,” Moore said. “It’s not the team in all of it, it’s not where we’re ranked, those are special people. I get to go to work with them every day and that’s what makes it worthwhile. I say it all the time, but I have the best job in the world.”
Maybe it wasn’t about the ranking or the undefeated season for Moore, but the team certainly came out in the first set and showed their determination to remain perfect, rarely letting Utah within five points. Bergsma dominated with her power and was essentially unstoppable.
The second set was another story. Utah drew first blood, and then Oregon struck back. The set was pretty evenly matched until Utah started figuring out the Ducks’ offensive scheme and began to destroy them with their quick blocking. Utah quickly racked up points off of blocks and got out to 15-10 lead.
After a timeout, the Ducks went back to their bread and butter: Alaina Bergsma. If Utah was going to out-sniff their next move, it might as well be unstoppable. Bergsma beautifully mixed soft, finesse volleys over the net with powerful spikes that had the defense diving all over the court. Throughout the entire night, she showed that she was the best player on the court, and by a healthy margin.
“It’s always dangerous,” Junior Lauren Plum said of their slow start in the second set, “We can’t relax at all. We know that. We just realized it and tried really hard to turn it around.”
After rallying back and winning the second set 25-21, the Ducks came out hot in the third and scored the first five points, determined to end the game in straight sets. Utah failed to give up and rallied back, keeping the game close.
With the game scored at 22-20 Ducks, the ball stayed in the air for what seemed like an eternity. Both teams refused to give up a point, making diving save after diving save. The crowd silenced and watched in amazement, letting out “oooh”s and “aaaahhh”s with each acrobatic save until finally Bergsma laid out a thunderous kill that Utah was powerless to stop, seemingly ending the game.
On the horizon. The Ducks have had a remarkable season so far, highlighted by their win against USC, but the Pac-12 is always dangerous.
“The Pac-12 is brutal,” Plum said when asked about the remainder of the schedule. “It’s great that we have confidence now and I’m sure we will keep it going. There is always going to be ups and downs in a season but we’re just going to try to keep steady momentum.”
The Ducks will try to remain perfect with a win tomorrow over Colorado. 7 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.