Oregon volleyball had it all Friday at McArthur Court.
Oregon State was in town for the second installment of this season’s Civil War, it was “senior night” for Oregon’s Julie Gerlach and Monique Tobbagi, and 1,325 fans showed up to cheer for the Ducks against the rival Beavers.
At the end of the night, the only thing Oregon lacked was a win.
With a three-game sweep of the Ducks (31-29, 30-22, 30-27), the Beavers (16-7 overall, 9-5 Pacific-10 Conference) took the season series from their in-state rivals for the first time since 1997.
“This hurts even more because of it being the Civil War and Senior Night,” Tobbagi said after posting a team-high 20 kills and earning her 26th career double-double. “We thought we were going to get it tonight. OSU played well and we just didn’t step up.”
The Ducks (9-17, 0-14) were in position to take the first game from Oregon State, but couldn’t win the opener. With four-point and five-point runs, Oregon was dominant early, jumping out to a seven-point lead.
But the Beavers were able to claw their way back and eventually tied the game at 27. A block by OSU junior Michele Solomon and a kill by junior Megan McMillan helped put the Beavers in the driver’s seat. Another block by Solomon and a service ace by senior Lori Daedelow gave the Beavers a two-point win.
What could have been an important win for Oregon quickly turned into a momentum-draining loss for the Ducks. Oregon State’s seven-point run at the start of game two put the Ducks away for good en route to the Beavers’ eight-point win.
“Emotionally, it was a letdown to lose game one and then see how game two starts,” Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said.
Oregon began game three looking like a top-25 team, as it jumped out to another big lead over the Beavers. At 10-5, the Ducks were in control, but again saw the diligent Beavers come back.
With the game tied at 16, two Beaver attacks gave Oregon State a lead they would not relinquish. Ferreira’s squad could get no closer than 28-26 before bowing out on an Oregon attack error and a kill by OSU senior Gina Schmidt.
“They executed better than we did,” junior Stephanie Martin said. “They were more prepared for us. They wanted it more than we did.”
A key to the Beavers’ win was their ability to maintain two highly successful runs on the Ducks. Early in the first game, a four-point run allowed them to gain momentum. Their seven-point run at the beginning of game two put the Ducks away before Oregon could even score a point.
“The repercussions of one play three plays later has such an emotionally steamrolling effect unless you have the mental ability to stop it,” Ferreira said. “We talk all the time about not letting your opponent beat you twice.”