Women’s Volleyball: Ducks Anything But Civil, Crush Beavers

Oregon’s win total is its most since a 21-9 effort in 1989, the last year the Ducks played in the postseason.

Photo courtesy: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS - The Oregon Ducks moved one step closer to an NCAA tournament appearance with a 3-0 Civil War drubbing of Oregon State in Pac-10 volleyball action Friday at Gill Coliseum.

The Ducks (16-4, 6-4 Pac-10) won by scores of 30-24, 30-22 and 30-21, sweeping the season series with the Beavers (3-16, 0-10) for the first time since 1996.

“I thought OSU played very well, and I’m not just saying that,” said second-year coach Jim Moore. “We had a plan coming in here and we did an excellent job of executing it.”

Freshman middle blocker Sonja Newcombe was unconscious for the Ducks, hitting .543 with a career-high 21 kills. She led all players with a nearly unheard of 27.0 points for a three-set match.

“We came in here focused on making this just business and taking things one step at a time,” Newcombe said, downplaying the rivalry aspect of the contest. “We are still learning how to handle different situations and this was a good test.”

After a tight Game 1, which featured 10 ties and nine lead changes, UO outclassed its opponent for the remainder of the match. The lead changed only once the rest of the night and the outcome never appeared in doubt.

“The Cal win (last week) was a huge step in building a successful program,” Moore said. “But to be successful you have to win the matches you are supposed to, which we did tonight.”

UO hit .353 as a team, including .450 in the final frame, compared to .165 for Oregon State. The Ducks also held a big edge in digs, 47 to 34.

Freshman hitter Neticia Enesi and sophomore hitter Mira Djuric each had 10 kills for the Ducks. Seniors Erin Little and Kristen Bitter had seven spikes apiece.

Newcombe and sophomore libero Katie Swoboda shared the match high with 13 digs apiece.

Freshman hitter Rachel Rourke had 10 kills for OSU. Junior hitter Kristin Murray had six kills and a team-high 11 digs.

OSU hit a respectable .281 in the opening stanza, but Oregon countered with a .394 clip. Newcombe paved the way with eight kills on 12 swings and hit .583. She also had three of her career-high five service aces.

Newcombe added six kills in Game 2 and seven in the deciding set as UO closed up shop in one hour and 28 minutes before a OSU season-high crowd of 2,517.

Oregon heads home to face the Washington schools next week at McArthur Court.

The Ducks host the Washington State Cougars on Thursday at 8:00 PM, followed by the Washington Huskies on Friday at 7:00 PM.

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