This weekend, No. 20 Oregon volleyball (18-8, 11-7)@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4287&SPID=234&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205332571&DB_OEM_ID=500@@ split two contests against the highest-ever ranked pair of opponents the program has ever faced.@@see previous@@ The good news for the Ducks: Their victory over the Bruins marked the second time this season the team has upset the nation’s top-ranked squad.@@not sure who else he’s referring to@@
Friday night, in front of 1,616 faithful fans,@@changed from 1,606: http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=234&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205331777@@ the Ducks put on a show at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon got off to a very slow start, dropping the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-23.@@see previous@@
With UCLA threatening to sweep the Ducks at home, the team tightened up in the third frame. After falling behind 3-1, Oregon rallied to win the third set, 25-15.@@see previous@@
From that point on, the Ducks gained momentum. Junior outside hitter Alaina Bergsma@@roster: http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=234&SPSID=4285@@ (29 points, 25 kills)@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=234&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205331777@@ dominated the Bruins front line and consistently kept Oregon neck-to-neck with the NCAA’s premier team.
Bergsma hit .290 against one of the nation’s best defensive lines and also totaled two aces, eight digs and three blocks.@@see previous@@ The effort may have been the best outing in Bergsma’s two-plus years with the Ducks.
“We came out a little slow, but we were able to fight back,” Bergsma said. “Our serving and passing were awesome and enabled (setter Lauren Plum@@roster@@) to run the offense pretty efficiently.”
Junior outside hitter Katherine Fischer racked up 12 kills@@see previous@@ and led the team in digs (20)@@see previous@@ for the sixth time this year.@@can’t confirm@@
“We came in prepared,” freshman middle blocker Savannah Paffen@@roster@@ said. “Today was important because we did some good things against them. We knew there were some things we needed to fix. We knew they were a disciplined team, especially defensively, so we had to play equally hard and not waste any opportunities.”
After Friday’s win, the Ducks are now 5-5 versus UCLA in the last five seasons.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=234&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205331777@@ Much of Oregon’s success could be credited to head coach Jim Moore,@@CE@@ now in his seventh season with the program. Prior to Moore’s arrival, the program was 1-41 all-time against the three-time NCAA champions.@@see previous@@
Last August, the Ducks upset then-No. 1 Penn State for its first victory in 19 all-time meetings against a top-ranked team.@@see previous@@ That win snapped an NCAA-record 94-match home win streak for the Nittany Lions, who are four-time defending national champions.@@see previous@@
“I’m pleased that we won, but I will put it in perspective like I did at Penn State,” Moore said. “Tonight is just one match, and we put ourselves in a big hole early. However, we fought back, and to make the second set close helped a lot.”
Saturday night didn’t go as well for the Ducks. Facing an athletic and well-coached team from USC, Oregon was simply overmatched.
The conference-leading Trojans bested the Ducks in straight sets (25-21, 25-17, 25-23)@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=234&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205332571@@ to win for the 17th time in 18 Pac-12 contests this season.@@see previous@@
“They played exceptionally well while we were a little flat,” Moore said. “They hit the ball over us and physically outmatched us.”
Bergsma posted her 14th-straight double-digit kill effort and paced the team in kills (13) and points (17).@@see previous@@ On the Oregon all-time charts, Bergsma moved into seventh place in single-season kills (479), passing former All-American Sonja Newcombe (470.5 in 2007).@@see previous@@
All-America senior outside hitter Alex Jupiter@@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/jupiter_alex00.html@@ led the Trojans in points (21.5), digs (15), aces (5), and blocks (3) and also racked up 14 kills while hitting .367 on the night.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=234&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205332571@@ Sophomore outside hitter Sara Shaw set a team-high mark in kills (17), while senior setter Kendall Bateman@@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/bateman_kendall00.html@@ paced USC with 46 assists.@@see goducks article@@
Oregon returns to action next weekend when the team travels to the Bay Area to take on Stanford and California in consecutive nights.@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=234&SPSID=4284@@