Women's Volleyball: Ducks Season a Success Despite Loss at No. 4 UCLA

Freshman blocker Sonja Newcombe had a team-high 13 kills, and senior hitter Erin Little had 10 kills and hit .333 (10-3-21)for the Ducks.

Katie Swoboda recorded the 1,000th dig of her career. Photo: goducks.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The University of Oregon Volleyball team finished its grueling stretch of four consecutive matches against top 15 programs, falling 0-3 to No. 4 UCLA Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins (29-3, 15-3) met plenty of resistance throughout the contest before prevailing 30-25, 30-26 and 30-20.

Even with the setback, the Ducks (17-11, 7-11 Pac-10) completed their most successful regular season in 17 years with a tie for sixth place in the nation’s premier volleyball conference.

“That doesn’t make losing tonight any easier,” said second-year head coach Jim Moore. “But this team has come a long way in a short time and proved they can compete with any team in the Pac-10 night in and night out.”

The last time Oregon finished higher than a tie for eighth in the conference was a tie for seventh place in 1990.

The Ducks tied for fourth in 1989 with a 10-6 Pac-10 mark, the last year UO made the NCAA tournament.

UCLA will finish no worse than tied for second in the Pac-10, its best showing the 1999 team won the conference championship.

Stanford entered Saturday night at 15-2 while UW entered their regular season finale 14-3 in conference play.

In Saturday’s affair, UCLA senior blocker Nana Meriwether hit .565 (13-0-23) and recorded six total blocks to pace the Bruins. Katie Carter had match highs of 14 kills and 17.0 points.

Oregon received another solid performance from sophomore Mira Djuric, who led the Ducks with 16.0 points on 12 kills, three aces and two block assists.

Sophomore libero Katie Swoboda became the seventh Duck to record 1,000 digs in a career and now has 1,003 after digging a match-best 23 balls.

The 2006 season could continue for Oregon if they are given an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The selection show to announce the 64-team field is Sunday at 12:30 PM on ESPNEWS.

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