The Oregon volleyball team played its first game with freshman Heather Madison at setter but experienced a familiar result.
The Ducks lost for the 16th consecutive time Thursday, dropping a match to Arizona, 3-0 (30-22, 30-20, 30-26) in front of 738 fans at McArthur Court.
Oregon (3-21 overall, 0-15 Pacific-10 Conference) once again saved its best volleyball for the third game of a match after struggling through the first two. Oregon trailed by as many as seven points early in game three, but eventually fought back and took a 22-21 lead on a Madison ace that landed just inches inside the baseline. The Ducks built a 24-22 lead before giving way to the Wildcats.
“I was nervous before (the match),” Madison said. “But once I got in a groove it was fine.”
Madison was playing in place of sophomore Jodi Bell, who suffered an ACL injury to her right knee last Saturday at Washington.
“I thought Heather played very well,” Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said. “It’s a very difficult situation for her to walk into.”
Madison finished with 28 assists, three kills and a pair of service aces. Ferreira said the Ducks’ slow start was typical of a team adapting to a new setter.
“No matter what Heather’s approach is, no matter how great the support from her teammates is, we’re still going to have a little bit of an adjustment phase,” Ferreira said. “I thought we finished the match a lot better than we started.”
Arizona’s (13-13, 7-8) attack proved to be too much for the Ducks to handle. Sophomore outside hitters Jennifer Abernathy and Kim Glass sent attacks over the net with such force that at times Oregon defenders were knocked backwards. Abernathy finished with 18 kills and Glass had seven.
Oregon’s offense didn’t have the firepower needed to keep pace with Arizona. The Wildcats out-hit the Ducks percentage-wise, .337 to .157. The Wildcats had five players finish with a hitting percentage of .300 or higher. Sophomore middle blocker Bre Ladd led all players with at least 10 attacks by hitting .538.
When Oregon did have an opportunity for a kill, an opportunistic Arizona front line was usually there to send the attack back over the net. The Wildcats finished with 12 team blocks, including six total blocks from junior middle blocker Jolene Killough.
Ferreira said that while Arizona is a good blocking team, Oregon attackers need to do a better job adapting to opposing defenses.
“Typically you have to be a little more dynamic in attacking,” Ferreira said. “I think our hitters can make those adjustments. Any time you’re in a one on one situation, your hitters should have the advantage. They should have the ability to turn and get the ball around any block at any time.”
Freshman outside hitter Sarah Mason led Oregon with 11 kills and hit at a .286 clip. Sophomore outside hitter Jaclyn Jones added seven kills and sophomore middle blocker Kelly Russell finished with six. Junior libero Katie O’Neil hammered out a team-high seven digs, while freshman middle blocker Kristen Bitter finished with a pair of solo blocks and a block assist.

Home finale
Oregon will play its final home match of the season against Arizona State tonight at 7 p.m. The Ducks will wrap up their season the following week with matches at Stanford and California. Players are staying optimistic about winning one of their final three matches.
“In the Pac-10, there’s always a chance,” Russell said. “We’re the underdogs, and we feel teams don’t prepare well for us because they’re not expecting us (to win).”