Gorana Maricic had everything going Thursday night.
The junior outside hitter had 31 kills, two shy of her season high, and 10 digs but without another teammate reaching double figures in kills, No. 19 Oregon fell to visiting No. 10 California in four games, 27-30, 29-31, 30-22 and 24-30.
The Ducks have little time to recover with No. 2 Stanford coming to McArthur Court tonight at 7 p.m. The Cardinal disposed of Oregon State in three games Thursday.
“This is over and this is behind us,” Maricic said. “We’ll be ready for (tonight).”
Oregon (14-3, 3-2 Pacific-10 Conference) appeared to have the momentum heading into the Cal match. They had won three consecutive matches in conference play, while Cal (11-4, 1-3) had dropped three straight.
The Ducks maintained a lead through much of game one until, ahead by one, 27-26, Cal ran off four straight points, including a deciding kill by Carli Lloyd.
“We lost our focus, discipline, whatever it was on little, simple plays,” coach Jim Moore said. “That snapped game one around immediately on something that was really, really silly. We kind of did the same thing in game two. We just weren’t as disciplined.”
In that second game, Oregon held a 14-11 lead, before a 5-0 Cal run gave the Golden Bears a 16-14 edge. The teams traded points until with Cal ahead 29-26, Oregon scored three straight points completed by a service ace from Sonja Newcombe to tie it at 29. But a kill and a service ace by Cal’s Hana Cutura gave the Golden Bears game two.
Maricic gained some help in the third game from a resurgent Newcombe, who had two kills and three service aces, as Oregon built an eight point lead and won, 30-22.
After Oregon tied Cal at 19 in game four, the Golden Bears used a 6-0 run for a 25-19 lead, and it made the difference in a 30-24 match-deciding win.
Next to Maricic, Heather Meyers was the next closest Duck with seven kills. Kristen Forristall and Neticia Enesi each had six. Libero Katie Swoboda made 28 digs.
The powerful Cutura led Cal with 23 kills and a .405 hitting percentage.
“You have to learn from it,” Newcombe said. “You can’t forget it. Every night is something new. There’s definitely lessons to be learned.”
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Cal spoils Ducks’ return to Mac Court
Daily Emerald
October 4, 2007
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