In the grand scheme of things, winning one game during a conference match doesn’t mean much.
But for the Oregon volleyball team, winning one game against No. 9 UCLA on Thursday in front of 566 at McArthur Court was a huge step in the right direction.
When freshman Kristen Bitter and sophomore Jaclyn Jones rose up and sent a Bruin attack back over the net at the end of game three, Oregon captured a 31-29 victory, the first Pacific-10 Conference game the Ducks have won all season.
The fact that Oregon lost the match 3-1 (30-23, 30-20, 29-31, 30-22) seemed insignificant after its ending.
“I couldn’t be happier for (the players),” Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said. “(UCLA) is the ninth-ranked team in the country. You’re doing things at a national level to win that game. You learn how to compete on a top-10, national level.”
The players’ sentiments were in-line with Ferreira’s comments.
“It just felt so good to win that game,” freshman Sarah Mason said. “Nothing was going to stop us.”
The Ducks executed like one of the nation’s elite during game three. After building a 24-18 lead, Oregon (3-16 overall, 0-10 Pac-10) survived mental mistakes and a 6-0 UCLA run to capture the win. The Mac Court crowd rose to its feet and applauded the Ducks as they switched sides and prepared for game four.
“It was great to hear the fans go (wild),” Ferreira said. “Their support is unbelievable.”
Mason led Oregon in kills with 16. Every time the Ducks needed to score a point, it seemed as though she was there to put it away.
“I just go up and rip it,” Mason said. “I look at that ball and nobody’s gonna get it. No one can stop me.”
Jones finished with 13 kills and two block assists, including the winner in game three.
“I think it’s a confidence builder for us,” Jones said. “I think it shows us that we can compete with these teams.”
Sophomore Kelly Russell added 12 kills, while sophomore Jodi Bell dished out 38 assists. Junior Katie O’Neil hammered out 21 digs. Bitter had two kills and five block assists.
Oregon’s young squad had its composure tested several times during the third frame. Mason received a yellow card for shouting at an opposing player and later failed to return a ball — which was still live — thinking play had been stopped.
Later in the match, junior Lauren Westendorf was whistled for a service-violation after failing to serve the ball in the allotted time of seven seconds. Westendorf stood behind the baseline in disbelief, telling the head referee that she didn’t hear his whistle to start play. O’Neil received a yellow card on the play for arguing.
After falling behind 28-21, UCLA (15-4, 7-3) went on a 8-1 run to pull within even at 29. Oregon scored the next two points on a Bruin attack error and the Jones-Bitter block.
“Players play the game,” Ferreira said. “When they earn credibility based on what they do between the lines, there’s nothing a coach can give them or say to them that means more than what they earned by themselves by competing.”