The Oregon Ducks fell to the University of Southern California Trojans in straight sets for the second time this season Wednesday. Oregon is now 12-11 and in danger of missing the NCAA tournament.
Similar to the first time they met this year, the Ducks showed that they could keep pace with the Trojans, but they came up short once again. USC captured sets by scores of 25-17, 26-24 and 25-21. USC received a standout performance from Alyse Ford, who had 11 kills on just three errors and .381 hitting percentage.
The Ducks came out stagnant in the first set and hit just 0.94, but came to life in the second  and found themselves up 24-23 with match point. However, failure to close out sets is an issue that has haunted the Ducks all season, and that issue popped up once again as USC  tallied off three straight points to win the set and swing momentum in their favor.
Oregon rallied back in the third set to pull ahead 19-17, but the Trojans ultimately showed why they are considered one of the top teams in the nation, and finished the match off with an 8-2 streak to complete the sweep.
USC is now 25-1 overall, 13-1 in the PAC-12 and are the only one-loss team in the top-five of the NCAA rankings.
The loss drops the Ducks to eighth place in the PAC-12 standings with a 6-8 conference record With five regular season matches remaining they now have a  herculean task ahead of them if they want to keep their NCAA tournament dreams alive.
Taylor Agost played one of her strongest matches of the season for the Ducks and finished the match with 11 kills on three errors while hitting .381, and libero Amanda Benson finished with 10 digs for Oregon.
One positive for Oregon is that they were relatively able to hold reigning Trojan All-American Samantha Bricio in check. Bricio, who Oregon coach Jim Moore referred to as “the best player in the nation,” following the Duck’s’ Oct. 25. loss to the Trojans, had nine kills and five errors and just hit just .129.
Oregon will finish up their Los Angeles trip against UCLA at 8 p.m. Thursday, and will then return home where they will play their final four matches of the regular season.
Follow Jarrid on Twitter @jdenney50