Finally, the No. 20 Oregon volleyball team is back on the winning track.
The Ducks ended a five-match losing streak and picked up its first Pacific-10 Conference road win of the season Saturday by topping Arizona State in a five-set thriller.
The win, which also snapped a string of 13 consecutive losing sets, improved Oregon’s Pac-10 record to 5-8 and their overall mark to 17-8.
“It was a win we desperately needed,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said.
After winning the first two sets comfortably, the Ducks seemed to lose focus in the third and fourth sets.
“In games one and two we played great,” Moore said. “We did not come out as focused (after the intermission between the second and third sets).”
But the Ducks picked it up and gutted out a competitive fifth set to earn the victory
“I’m disappointed that we had to get that far, but I am very happy that we were able to win,” Moore said.
Senior Heather Meyers was strong in the win, posting 23 kills (two off her career high), two service aces and hitting .370.
“Heather played great,” Moore said. “I think she only had two aces but that might have been one of the best serving nights of her career. She had pressure on them all night long and we scored a lot of points when she was serving, and she hit great.”
Sophomore Katherine Fischer also played well, tallying a career high 24 kills, 13 digs, and a .297 hitting percentage. The double-double was Fischer’s 11th of the season — a total good enough for fourth-most in the Pac-10.
“I thought I did well,” Fischer said. “I came out fighting and playing hard and it paid off this time against ASU.”
Freshman setter Lauren Plum’s 65 assists contributed to Fischer and Meyers’ big nights. Those 65 assists were the third most registered by any player in the Pac-10 this season.
“(Lauren) was customizing the set to each person to make them most successful and she was mixing it up a lot,” Fischer said. “She did a great job.”
As a team, Oregon hit .289 and allowed the Sun Devils to hit .310. But in the pivotal fifth set, the Ducks hit .421.
“We started off well in game five and we hung on,” Moore said.
The victory was especially important because of a disappointing straight-sets loss to Arizona Friday night. The Ducks were outhit .343 to .103 in the contest and surrendered 45 kills.
“We started out not the aggressor and it allowed them to become the aggressor,” Moore said. “Because they didn’t start off as the aggressor either, and they were able to get the momentum and we weren’t able to respond at all until game three.”
Whitney Dosty, who notched 11 kills and hit .476, and Cursty Jackson, who had 12 kills and hit .474, led the way for the Wildcats.
“I don’t know that Dosty’s had a night like that the entire year,” Moore said. “If she’s on she’s virtually impossible to stop and she was on Friday night. Cursty’s a good player and she had a good night.”
While bright spots were few and far between for Oregon, freshman Ariana Williams played well, posting a .250 hitting percentage to go along with two blocks. That performance was especially impressive in light of an ankle sprain Williams suffered in practice a few days before the match.
“She was able to come back in and tough it out,” Moore said. “I was real proud of her for doing that and she did a great job.”
This week, Oregon will make the short trip to Corvallis on Friday to take on Oregon State in the second and final Civil War match of 2010. The Ducks shut out the Beavers in mid-October.
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