University of Oregon
3-0
Missouri State
1-2
Ducks Cage Bears in Oregon Classic Finale
08/30/09 | Women's Volleyball
* A boxscore and play-by-play is located in the LINKS box to the right, and updated season statistics are available via the link at the top of the page.
EUGENE - The No. 14 University of Oregon volleyball team cruised past Missouri State Saturday night, 3-0, to win the Oregon Classic and dominate the all-tournament team.
The Ducks (3-0) rolled past the Bears (1-2) by a 25-15, 25-13, 25-19 count in the second and final night of its home-opening tournament, and ran its non-conference regular season record to 47-3 under fifth-year head coach Jim Moore.
"I don't know if I've ever had a team with this much depth," Moore said, "so it was fun to see all the combinations of players contributing all over the court. Our seniors led the way, and our freshmen showed that they are going to be a special class, too. We're really young and have so much room to grow - and we need to before we get to the Pac-10 - but this was a great start. It was also good to see Dana (Stephenson) take charge early tonight and show what she's capable of."
Stephenson paced UO in kills for the first time in her career, and Saturday's tally more than doubled her previous collegiate best that came in a three-set victory against Eastern Washington (5) in the morning. The sophomore from Canyon, Texas also paced the team in points for the first time in her career (13.0) Saturday night and hit .526 - second-best on the team on the evening.
Freshman Katherine Fischer also logged her best kill total (8) for the Ducks, and tied All-America senior and middle blocker Neticia Enesi for the second-highest tally on the team, while the duo hit .353 and .727, respectively.
Among other team leaders, senior setter Nevena Djordjevic racked up 33 assists, senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe had nine digs for the second straight match to just miss her 35th career double-double, and Enesi had five blocks.
Saturday also marked the first collegiate start for freshman libero and League City, Texas native Haley Jacob who had six digs.
For Missouri State, Sara Staubach and Addie Foley led the team in kills (6), and other stat leaders included Kelley Michnowicz (hitting, .556), Melissa Gmur (17 assists), Julia Cawthra (2 service aces), Cara Hackmann (12 digs) and Addie Foley (6.5 points).
As a team, Oregon combined for a .419 hitting mark and nearly tripled its opponents' tally (.145), while the Ducks also held advantages in kills (43-27), aces (6-5), assists (40-24), digs (31-28) and blocks (14-8).
UO's Newcombe was a unanimous pick for the tournament MVP after she paced the team in kills (30) and digs (25) for the tourney, and ranked second in points (37.5) and assists (4), and third in blocks (7). Tournament-wise among all players, she ranked third in kills (30, 3.33), fourth in digs (25, 2.78) and seventh in hitting (.343).
"The MVP honor is nice, especially since it came from the opposing coaches," Newcombe said. "More important, we showed that we have the potential to be a very good team as we get more in rhythm with each other. That's important since various people are stepping into new roles on the court such as Heather, Dana and the freshmen. Our liberos also did a good job stepping in and giving a great effort. It was fun for us to be back playing at home - I love playing here in front of our crowd - and it's a great way to start the season off."
Three other Ducks were tabbed to the seven-person all-tournament squad - Djordjevic, Enesi and junior outside hitter Heather Meyers. Enesi led the tourney in hitting (.563) and blocks (16.0, 1.78 b/s), while Djordjevic and Meyers led the assists (100, 11.11 a/s) and service aces categories (11, 1.38 sa/s), and the latter also ranked second in hitting (.391) and fifth in kills (25, 3.13 k/s).
"As we shake off the nerves," Meyers said, "I think we feel that we have a really good team, and one that can go really far. There are always butterflies (your first matches of the season), but this weekend I think I was especially nervous since I am playing a new role on the court. But those nerves are definitely wearing off as we go."
Looking ahead, UO remains at McArthur Court for its next contest and welcomes Seattle for a 7 p.m. match next Friday, September 4. The Ducks travel two days later to Portland, Sunday, September 6 for a 2 p.m. match, then host another regional rival, Portland State, Tuesday, September 8 at 7 p.m.
Oregon Classic All-Tourney Team
MVP - Sonja Newcombe, Oregon
Calli Norman, Missouri State, MH
Sarah Mandala, San Francisco, OPP
Chenoa Coviare, Eastern Washington, MB
Nevena Djordjevic, Oregon, S
Neteicia Enesi, Oregon, MB
Heather Meyers, Oregon, OH
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