EUGENE, Ore.
? The 10th-ranked California Bears left McArthur
Court on Thursday night picking up their first
Pacific-10 conference victory, defeating No. 19 Oregon 3-1 (30-27, 31-29,
22-30, 30-24).
The No. 19 Ducks fall
to 14-3 overall and 3-2 in the Pac-10, while No. 10 California improves to 11-4
overall and 1-3 in conference.
Cal had four
players reach double figures in kills, led by Hana Cutura's 23 kills and .405
attacking percentage. Angie Pressey hit .378 with 15 kills, while Morgan Beck
added 13 kills and 10 digs. Ellen Orchard posted 11 kills.
Oregon junior
outside hitter Gorana Maricic provided the majority of the Ducks' offense,
leading both teams with 31 kills, and picking up her seventh double-double of
the year adding 10 digs.
Junior Katie Swoboda led Oregon's
defense with 28 digs, but even the Portland
native's efforts on the back line could not prevent Cal
from hitting .314 in the match. It was the first time this year the Ducks
allowed a team to hit over .300.
Also for the first time this season, Oregon
found itself trailing two games to none at the break. While Oregon
was hitting an even .200, the Ducks could not find a defensive answer for the
Bears.
California,
guided by setter Carli Lloyd, hit .367 in the first two games combined, led by Cutura
and Pressey.
The Ducks looked as if they were well on their way to
climbing back in the match after a decisive 30-22 victory in game 3. Oregon
was led by Maricic's 10 kills in that game, while the Bears struggled with
seven attacking errors, hitting just .132.
In game four Oregon
continued to rally with Cal, with
the last tie score at 19-19. But the Ducks were never able to take the lead in
the final and decisive game as the Bears went on a six-point run.
The match featured a total of 35 tied scores and 13 lead
changes.
Senior Karen Waddington led Oregon
with four blocks, while sophomore Nevena Djordjevic had 34 assists.
Lloyd led Cal
with 61 assists.
Oregon is now
0-2 against teams ranked in the top 10 (Washington
and California) and 1-2 against
top 25 programs, with the victory coming against 20th-ranked Ohio
State on Sept. 15.
Oregon returns
to Mac Court to play the
undefeated and No.2 Stanford Cardinal tomorrow at 7
p.m. Live stats and an O-Zone broadcast will be available on
www.GoDucks.com.
QUICK QUACKS:Cal leads the series with Oregon 46-13...head coach Jim Moore is 43-33 in his time at Oregon and 11-30 in the Pac-10...tonight's match marked the second time this season Oregon has had 1,000-plus fans in attendance...the Ducks are averaging 1,456 fans per match at home against Pac-10 opponents...the loss snapped Oregon's three-match winning streak...the loss was Oregon's second at home this year, both to top-10 teams - the first being No. 8 Washington on Sept. 21...against Cal, the Ducks trailed by two games for the first time this season...Oregon is now 1-3 when the team trails its opponents in kills...the Ducks are 1-2 against teams in the top 25 and 0-2 against teams in the top 10...it was the second time Gorana Maricic had 30-plus kills this season...her totally of 31 against Cal trails only her own season match-high of 33 against No. 8 Washington in the Pac-10.
