Amanda Porter (3) watches as Washington State’s Victoria Prince (16) records a block assist.
Entering Thursday night’s volleyball match at McArthur Court, Washington State had been a thorn in Oregon’s side, defeating the Ducks in 23 straight, dating back to 1991.
Make it 24 straight.
The 13th-ranked Cougars, led by Chelsie Schafer’s 13 kills, defeated Oregon in three straight (30-27, 30-23, 30-18) in front of 765 at The Pit.
The loss sends Oregon (11-20 overall, 1-16 Pacific-10 Conference) into tonight’s match against Washington looking for its second conference victory, a win that has eluded the Ducks since its only conference victory over Oregon State on Nov. 1.
“We started off really good — our offense was flowing and was going through everything so well, but we kind of let up toward the end,” freshman Jodi Bell said about the loss.
Freshman Dariam Acevedo led Oregon with 13 kills, while senior Lindsay Closs had eight. Her seventh kill of the match, coming in the third game, put her at the 400-kill mark for the season.
“She’s had a great year,” Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said about Closs. “She’s had a brilliant offensive season. I hope the Pac-10 recognizes her. She’s very deserving of that caliber of an honor, and I hope she gets it.”
Overall, Washington State did not dominate the Ducks as the team’s record before the match would suggest. However, Oregon’s inability to sustain point-scoring runs hindered it in the end. The Cougars dominated offensively, leading the Ducks’ Northwest foes to an easy win in the end.
The Cougars had average games to begin the match, hitting for a .261 percentage in Game 1 and .182 in Game 2. But in Game 3, they broke out, posting a .531 attack percentage on the strength of 18 kills and just one error. The Ducks, on the other hand, hit for a team-high .222 in Game 1, and a low of .019 in Game 2.
Overall, the Ducks finished the night at .137.
“I thought we started out pretty well,” Ferreira said. “We knew going in that we had to be efficient in our execution. Washington State does not beat itself.”
Ferreira credited Oregon’s poor passing attempts and an inability to score during side-outs for the Ducks’ lag offensively in Game 2 and part of Game 3.
Down 2-0 entering Game 3, the
Ducks saw Washington State pull out to an 18-6 lead, highlighted by a seven-point run midway through the set. Oregon, however, answered back, pulling to within seven points, 22-15, before allowing the Cougars to score eight of the match’s 11 points.
Oregon now must turn its attention to Washington, an unranked opponent that has defeated the Ducks in three of the last four matches the teams have played.
It will be senior night as three Ducks — Closs, Sydney Chute and Amanda Porter — will wave good-bye to the McArthur Court fans for the final time in a Duck uniform. Bell called the final match “sad,” while Closs — who transferred to Oregon from Fresno State as a junior — has different thoughts.
“I don’t want to think about it,” she said. “No thoughts right now.”
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