The No. 13 Oregon volleyball team began their home schedule Wednesday evening with a 3-1 victory over the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Gauchos, ranked 53rd in the latest RPI standings, came into the match on the heels of a 3-1 victory over Portland State on Tuesday relying heavily on strong performances from Britton Taylor and Katey Thompson, who both contributed with double-digit tallies.
Oregon jumped out to 7-1 lead in the first set and Gaucho head coach Kathy Gregory, seeing her squad unable to maintain any type of offensive cohesion, was forced to call a timeout.
After pulling within four at 15-11 Leah Sully served long and the tides of the first set tilted in the Ducks’ favor. Ariana Williams added the final point to secure a 25-17 victory with outside hitter Alaina Bergsma adding 5 kills.
The second set began as a more tightly contested affair with the Ducks committing several unforced errors and holding a single point lead at 4-3. After the slow start, Oregon went on a run and, following a Liz Brenner block, UCSB called another timeout in an attempt to slow down the offensive barrage from the Ducks.
Behind the leadership of libero Haley Jacob and the arm of Bergsma, Oregon secured a second set victory 25-20 with Bergsma emphatically adding the final point.
Oregon took its 2-0 lead into the third set and then found themselves in unfamiliar territory. UCSB scored the first point of the set and took a 1-0 lead, giving itself its first lead in any set all evening. Oregon had a hard time keeping any momentum going at the start of the set and Oregon head coach Jim Moore called a timeout with his squad down 13-9.
Oregon was never really able to get going even with Liz Brenner at one point scoring three consecutive kills to bring the Ducks within six points at 17-23, but it was not enough and Oregon fell in the third 25-18.
Turning Point. With Bergsma sitting out a large portion of the third set and the Ducks seeing their set lead at just one, the tone of the fourth set was different than the other three. The Gauchos had a noticeable air of confidence about them and the Ducks were on their heels. However, Bergsma killed the ball to score the first point of the set and Oregon would not look back. Bergsma had a total of seven points in the fourth set and helped Oregon cruise to a 25-16 fourth set victory that clinched the match 3-1.
On the horizon. The volleyball’s team next foe will be the No. 55 St. Mary’s Gaels on Monday. St. Mary’s is currently riding a three-game winning streak and faces Kansas State and Utah State before traveling to face Oregon. Moore believes that in order for his team to remain successful, consistency is key and that was something he didn’t see Wednesday evening.
“We weren’t very consistent, that’s the one thing I can’t tolerate,” Moore said. “We had a good start but we didn’t sustain it. Again, that’s inconsistency and that has to stop … I’m not very happy, and it’s got to go.”