University of Oregon
11-1
Washington State
12-1
No. 7 Ducks Tame Cougars, 3-1
09/27/09 | Women's Volleyball
* A boxscore and play-by-play is located in the links box to the right, and updated season/career stats are available via the link above.
EUGENE - The No. 7 Oregon volleyball team (11-1, 1-1) wrapped its opening weekend of league action by handing Washington State (12-1, 1-1) its first loss of the season Sunday afternoon at McArthur Court.
Entering the weekend ranked first in the Pac-10 based on its non-conference mark, Washington State won the opening set, 25-23 - its first set victory vs. since 2005 after Oregon had swept the last six contests.
However, Oregon came back to win the next three sets, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21, to stop the upstart Cougars who had received votes in this week's national polls, less than a year removed after the squad finished 10th in the league with a 10-19 and 3-15 overall and Pac-10 records, respectively.
Senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe paced Oregon in kills (19) and digs (12) for her second double-double of the weekend, third of the season and 37th of her career - not to mention team bests in the final two categories.
Newcombe's numbers were even more impressive considering she had reinjured a knee subluxation in Friday night's match vs. No. 3 Washington that forced her to miss several Pac-10 matches last season. Looking back over the season, Sunday's kill mark was the seventh time she's led UO in the category this season.
Junior outside hitter Heather Meyers added 16 kills, seven digs and hit .406. The Temecula, Calif., native's kill tally was her second highest of the season behind her 19 in a five-set win vs. No. 9 Minnesota last weekend and her hitting mark was her sixth +.300 tally of '09.
“I didn't play very well against Washington (two nights ago),” Meyers said, “so I knew I needed come back refocused, and ready to play. I had to move past the frustration and focus on helping the team whatever way possible.”
Senior middle blocker Neticia Enesi had similar hitting totals (14 kills, .391, 6 blocks), and extended her stretch of double-digit kill tallies this season to seven straight matches.
Senior setter Nevena Djordevic racked up a season-high 57 assists - two more than her tally at Utah last week (55) - and her third +50 tally of the season and 12th of her career. The Lazarevac, Serbia native also had eight digs - one off her season high at Denver last weekend.
Among other noteworthy Duck performances, sophomore outside hitter Dana Stephenson had seven kills, 10.5 points and a career high seven blocks; freshman outside hitter Katherine Fischer had seven kills, 10.5 points and nine digs; and freshman libero Haley Jacob logged nine digs - her second-highest-mark of '09 - and had a career-high two aces with the latter coming on match point.
UO held advantages in kills (66-56), hitting (.305-.255), assists (63-51), aces (6-2) and blocks (14-11), and the two teams tied in digs (50-50).
UO's hitting mark was its seventh +.300 total of the season, while its block tally was its second-highest of the season behind its 16 in a three-set win over Seattle three weeks ago.
WSU's hitting tally was the highest by a Duck opponent in '09, just ahead of No. 3 Washington's mark Friday (.253). For comparison's sake, the Huskies entered this weekend ranked second nationally in the category (.339), while WSU stood 14th (.283).
Cougar individual stat leaders Sunday included Cassie Robbins (17 kills, .387 hitting mark, 8 blocks, 21 points), Renee Bordelon (47 assists, 1 ace), Faith Hutcherson (1 ace) and Oceana Bush (18 digs).
“Washington State hasn't gotten the respect they deserve nationally,” Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “They're really good, and if they stay in system, they'll beat you - they were undefeated for a reason. Having Sonja out there showed how tough and special she is, and it was her call to be out there. As a team, we needed to get through this match. We knew that they would be a tough opponent, and I thought we played pretty well, especially after the first set.”
Looking back over the weekend, Newcombe paced the team in kills (36, 5.14 per set), points (39.5, 5.64 p/s) and digs (23, 3.29 p/s), and ranked second in hitting (.354) and aces (0.14 per set) and third in blocks (5, 0.71 p/s). To better understand her impact vs the Northwest league rivals, the following is a comparison of her weekend totals vs. her season per set averages before the weekend - kills (5.14 / 3.64 p/s), hitting (.354 / .287), digs (3.29 / 2.12 p/s) and points (5.64 / 4.38).
Looking ahead, UO next plays Oregon State at Corvallis, Friday, October 2 at 7 p.m.
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