Ducks sweep by Cougars
EUGENE - The No. 5 University of Oregon volleyball team (15-1, 6-1) rolled to its 13th straight series win over Washington State (10-9, 0-7) Friday evening at Matthew Knight Arena.
In front of its sixth-biggest home crowd (2,928), the Ducks staked a 25-20, 25-21, 25-12 sweep to raise its record vs. WSU to 14-1 in Jim Moore's eight-year tenure since 2005.
"Our offense was pretty balanced tonight, and that's a good thing," Moore said. "We had five different hitters getting a good number of attempts, and four of them hit .400 or better. We sputtered a little in the second set and gave them nine points. We bounced back and only gave them one in the third set, so that was a lot better. "
Sophomore outside hitter Liz Brenner led the Ducks in kills (12) and hitting (.500) for the fifth time in both categories this season, and staked her fifth +.500 total.
Redshirt senior outside hitter Alaina Bergsma added 11 kills - her 13th double-digit total - and hit .435 for her seventh +.400 total of the season. She also added four blocks and four digs.
"The balance makes all of our lives better," Bergsma said. "It breaks up triple blocks and double teams, and gives each of us a chance to establish a rhythm. We still need to cut down on some errors, but overall we did some good things tonight."
All-Pac-12 setter and junior Lauren Plum piled up 42 assists, and added six digs and a team-high two aces.
Senior outside hitter Katherine Fischer also landed two aces - the seventh time that she has led the squad in '12 - and connected on eight kills.
Senior libero Haley Jacob logged 12 digs - her 13th double-digit figure and 12th time that she has paced the team this season.
Freshman middle blocker Canace Finley hit .500 to tie her season high, and connected on seven kills - her second-highest tally of the season. She also added three blocks - her third straight contest with +3.0, and sixth overall in 2012.
Also at middle blocker, junior Ariana Williams added seven kills, hit .400, and added two blocks.
"Canace is getting better and better," Moore said, "and is starting to do some really good things. She started well against Cal, and played even better tonight. She had as many kills as Ari, so that depth is really important."
In front of a Pac-12 Oregon TV Network audience, UO posted its second-highest hitting mark of the year team-wise (.411) - just behind its .500 mark vs. then-No. 10 Kentucky - while it held the Cougars to a .245 mark.
Oregon also held comfortable edges in kills (52-36), assists (50-32), aces (5-1), and digs (37-35), and the two teams tied in blocks (5.0-5.0).
WSU category leaders included Rachel Todorovich (15 kills, 15 points), Ver'Leea Hardaway (.462), Camryn Irwin (30 assists), Maile Scarpino (1 ace) and Jaicee Harris (12 digs).
Looking ahead, UO welcomes No. 2 Washington (16-0, 7-0) Saturday night for a 7 p.m. match. The Huskies won 3-0 at Oregon State Friday night to remain the only unbeaten team among the nation's 330 Division 1 programs.
Ticket-wise as part of Youth Night, kids 12 and under get $1 G.A. tickets, and adults get $3 G.A. tickets. Fans with tickets from last week's Washington football game can also use them for $1 G.A. volleyball tickets.
Promotions-wise, 200 Free Mac to Matt T-shirts will be given away to fans along with an iPad. Season ticket holders can get a free coffee cup, and 2012 Duck volleyball trading cards will be available for the first time.
