The No. 7 Oregon Ducks lost.
A set, that is. It’s the first time in almost four weeks they have let an opponent take a set from them, and only the second all year. They beat the Utah Utes in four sets, propelling their record to 18-4 overall, but it wasn’t easy.
Struggling with passing, Oregon won by scores of 25-17, 24-26, 25-15 and 25-22 in front of a small crowd at McArthur Court.
“It was tough for us to come out on a Monday night,” senior libero Katie Swoboda said. “They’re a great team and they played great defense.”
The Utes came out in the first set fired up, yelling and chanting after every point. The Ducks handled the intensity by hitting a blistering .600 with zero hitting errors, led by junior Neticia Enesi’s six kills.
Jumping out to a 7-2 lead behind three kills from senior All-American Gorana Maricic, Oregon looked to be headed to another easy three set victory. But the Utes managed a 6-0 run to take the lead 8-7. Not to be outdone, the women from Eugene rallied for their own 7-1 run, effectively putting the set away en route to a 25-17 win.
The second set featured 12 tie scores and six lead changes. The Utes handled every single thing the Ducks threw at them, and when Oregon’s passing broke down, Utah capitalized by keying in on Maricic’s hits.
“We struggled in that second set,” Swoboda said. “When you can’t pass as well as you would like, you can’t run your offense and they were able to take advantage.”
Then something special happened: Oregon’s junior captain Sonja Newcombe came off the bench and entered the game to a thunderous ovation from the Mac Court faithful. Down 14-18, head coach Jim Moore went with his rock, and the team immediately responded.
“I was standing at the front of the line saying, ‘Hey coach, put me in!’” Newcombe said.
Newcombe had been cleared to play earlier in the day, and with her entrance into the match, Oregon rallied to tie the score at 19 apiece.
The Ducks battled the rest of the way, but with the score 24-23 Oregon, Utah came up with the kill it needed to tie the game and change the momentum.
That kill led to another, and after a hit by Maricic went long, the Utah players let out a shout of victory over the 26-24 score and sprinted to the locker room for the break.
“I didn’t say anything very nice to them after that set,” Moore said. “We made seven hitting errors; we hit the ball out of bounds seven times. We just can’t make those types of mistakes.”
Moore’s frustrations were listened to and Oregon changed its approach in the third set. The Ducks responded to their first set loss at home since Oct. 3 with a 25-15 win that featured no errors – hitting or otherwise.
“We definitely picked up our play in the last couple sets,” Swoboda said.
However, the fourth and final set was far from routine. Utah proved hard to put down, as it battled its way to within one at 23-22. Oregon had been up by as many as six points, but two service errors by the Ducks left the door open.
That door quickly slammed shut, following a kill from Maricic to put the set at match-point, and with a wide hit from Utah, Oregon escaped with the win.
“I’ll say this: Utah is a very, very good team,” Moore said. “But I will never ever play a Monday night game like this as long as I live.”
With that emphatic statement, the head coach took a deep breath and smiled. The win was a good measure of how ready Oregon is for the end of the season, but he won’t let his team look that far ahead. Next up on the schedule for the Ducks are No. 12 USC and No. 9 UCLA in Los Angeles this weekend.
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