University of Oregon
Washington State
Ducks Bounce Back, Sweep Washington State
10/08/06 | Women's Volleyball
PULLMAN, Wash. – The University of Oregon volleyball team promptly put Friday night's loss to No. 5 Washington behind them, taking apart the Washington State Cougars, 3-0, in a match that lasted less than 90 minutes on Saturday evening at Bohler Gym.
The Ducks (12-3, 2-3 Pac-10), who have two conference wins for the first time since 2000, won by scores of 30-25, 30-21 and 30-25.
“We played really good defense, and despite our struggles on the attack we were still able to win in three,” second-year head coach Jim Moore said.
Oregon had nine blocks in Game 1, setting the tone for the rest of the match. The Ducks finished with 15 total blocks and held a 67-50 advantage in digs over the Cougars (13-7, 1-5).
While Oregon's attack percentage was a paltry .129, UO forced Washington State into the negative, holding the Cougars to minus-.014.
Leading the charge for Oregon was sophomore libero Katie Swoboda, who had a match-high 26 digs in the three-set affair.
“Katie is so good, she was the catalyst tonight,” said Moore. “She had three to four impossible digs and made everyone else better as a result of her play.”
Senior hitter Erin Little had match-highs of 13 kills and 16.0 points to go with 10 digs. Freshman hitter Neticia Enesi also hit double digits in kills with 10, and freshman blocker Sonja Newcombe had a well-rounded match consisting of eight kills, nine digs, five total blocks and 11.5 points.
Sophomore Brittany Johnson, a 5-9 outside hitter, led the Cougars with nine kills and 10.5 points. Freshman libero Kelly Hyder was impressive with 25 digs.
“We built big leads in every game and let (WSU) back in,” said Moore. “We're still learning how to win and this was a good situation for us to be put in. Overall, I'm very, very pleased.”
The Ducks head home to host the Arizona schools next week at McArthur Court. UO plays Arizona State on Thursday and Arizona on Friday. Both matches start at 7:05 p.m.
QUACK TRACKS: The last time UO was 2-3 in Pac-10 play was 1991 under head coach Gerry Gregory ... Jim Moore is one conference victory away from equaling the total number of Pac-10 wins by the Ducks in the five seasons before his arrival ... The win was Oregon's first on the road in Pac-10 play since Oct. 2, 2004, at WSU ... SR MB Kristen Bitter had a match-high eight total blocks ... SR S Heather Madison had a team-high 21 assists.
