Long after the final point of Oregon’s 3-1 victory over Oregon State was played, Heather Meyers was still surrounded by adoring fans on the floor of Gill Coliseum.
Most of her teammates had already retired to the locker room, but Oregon’s dynamic outside hitter was still signing autographs and taking pictures — for dozens of orange-and-black clad Oregon State fans.
Yes, rivalry be damned, Beaver fans wanted a piece of Oregon’s star senior. After the performance Meyers and her Duck teammates had delivered in enemy territory, nobody could blame the Oregon State fans for crossing party lines.
Meyers tallied a match-high 20 kills and hit .395, Oregon outside hitter Alaina Bergsma added 18 kills and hit .297, and Oregon (18-8, 6-8 Pacific-Ten Conference) beat the Beavers (8-20, 1-13 Pac-10) 23-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19. The win completed a the fourth Civil War sweep for Oregon in the last five years.
“This was huge,” Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “The biggest thing, this is one you have to win and those are by far the most difficult to win, and we did a good job at that.”
The four-set victory was an ideal way to begin a five-game stretch that will determine Oregon’s postseason fate. The Ducks are still on the bubble to earn an NCAA tournament berth, but seem motivated to cement their place amongst the nation’s top contenders.
“If we want to get in the tournament, we have to win a lot of these next matches,” Meyers said. ‘They’re very important.”
But in the early moments of Friday’s contest, it looked like Oregon State, not Oregon, was the more desperate team. In front of 3,287 fans, the third-largest crowd in Beaver volleyball history, Oregon State was nearly flawless in the first set, hitting .375 and notching 13 kills in a narrow set victory.
“We played well in game one, but they played perfect,” Moore said.
That could have spelled trouble for Oregon, which has struggled on the road in conference play this season. Before the match, the Ducks were only 1-5 away from McArthur Court in Pac-10 play.
But instead of panicking, Ducks maintained their composure, and rebounded to win the second set rather easily.
“We have struggled on the road, (but) I think we kind of got into our rhythm and started playing better,” Bergsma said.
Staying composed and collected helped Oregon turn things around.
“The biggest thing was just (to) stay calm and stay in there and plug away and the kids did a real good job of that,” Moore said.
Once the Ducks found their rhythm, there was nothing Oregon State could do to stop them. Oregon hit .364 in a lopsided third set victory and .289 in the decisive fourth set.
Freshman setter Lauren Plum’s precision passing helped Oregon’s offense function smoothly. Plum had 51 assists, her eighth game of at least 50 this season.
“I think Lauren Plum was a little anxious but she did a good job of making sure she stayed in control and got after it,” Moore said.
Oregon’s defense was just as effective as its offense. Three Ducks had double-digit dig totals (Haley Jacob had 18, Kellie Kawasaki 13 and Katherine Fischer 12), and Oregon held the Beavers to a .188 hitting percentage,
“I think our floor defense got a lot better (as the match went on),” Meyers said. “In the beginning we did struggle, (but) toward the end we built our confidence and that made us play better.”
The Ducks will look to extend their modest two-game winning streak next weekend when they host UCLA and USC in the final home series of the year. With the team’s transition to the new Matthew Knight Arena next season, the two critical matches will be the last women’s volleyball games ever played at McArthur Court.
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