Friday night was a taste of victory nobody on the Oregon women’s volleyball roster had experienced before. The Ducks beat Oregon State for the first time in the past seven Civil War matches.
With the win, the Ducks (11-2 overall, 1-2 Pac-10) have matched their conference win total from last season by beating the Beavers (3-9, 0-3) in four games 30-25, 30-25, 24-30 and 30-16 in the presence of a season-high crowd of 2,260. It was also the first time Oregon had beaten its rivals at McArthur Court since 1999.
“It’s the first,” coach Jim Moore said about the team’s Pac-10 win. “I do believe the next one will come easier than this one. It’s big to have that out of the way.”
For many of the players, the win brought a bit more joy considering the history between the two teams.
“It definitely made it more special,” freshman middle blocker Neticia Enesi said. “But it was just a game we needed to win.”
The atmosphere playing the Beavers at home while trying to break a six-game losing streak took its toll on several of Oregon’s players.
“Everybody was so wound up,” Moore said. “I was joking with them in the first time out and everybody’s hands were trying to drink water and (shaking).”
Regardless of the anxiety, Oregon hit .260 for the match while Oregon State hit .125. Freshman Sonja Newcombe led the match with 19 kills and 22 points.
Oregon won despite an uncharacteristic performance from outside hitter and team kill leader Mira Djuric who had a -.160 hitting percentage for the match.
“She was really wound up,” Moore said. “That’s the first time this year she’s been that pumped up. That’s going to happen, she wanted it real bad. And that’s what’s made this team so great. Here’s Mira, who’s many times been carrying us, and
she has a sub-par match and everybody else steps up.”
Performing most notably was senior Erin Little who recorded 10 kills and 15 digs from her outside hitting position.
“Holy cow was Erin good,” Moore said. “Erin was really good. She passed great, she hit great, she blocked great.
Erin Little was a senior once again today and I’m happy about that.”
Little claimed she didn’t do anything much different than in previous matches but said she had more focus to this game knowing it would be one of her last chances to beat the Beavers.
“It builds confidence,” Little said. “We’re still pretty young and we lost last weekend because we couldn’t close it out. Closing it out in the fourth game after losing the third game shows that we can do it. It’s mental, it’s not physical. We just have to prepare for it.”
After dropping the third game of the match while being out-hit .357 to .075, Little said the team came out more energized and ready to play again.
“We put a lot more pressure on ourselves than anyone else does,” Little said. “We wanted to win that game.”
Sophomore libero Katie Swoboda , who had a match-high 18 digs, said the large home crowd helped Oregon through the rough spots in the match.
“Our crowd’s amazing,” Swoboda said. “That’s what I love about it here. Mac Court is awesome and our crowd is behind us the whole time and they always have been.”
Oregon will travel to play No. 4 Washington, the defending NCAA champion, Friday at 7 p.m. and Washington State
on Saturday.
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