No. 5 Washington Downs Ducks in Four Games

Oregon completes its two-match conference road swing on Saturday against Washington State (13-6, 1-4).

Photo: goducks.com

SEATTLE - The 2006 version of the University of Oregon volleyball team continued to distance itself from the woeful Ducks of the past 15 years, challenging defending NCAA champion Washington before bowing out in four games Friday night at Bank of America Arena.

The Ducks (11-3, 1-3 Pac-10) swiped Game 1 and led for the bulk of Game 4 before the No. 5 Huskies (13-3, 3-2) roared to life and protected their home floor, winning 26-30, 30-22, 30-23 and 30-27.

“Our level of play was great - we executed well - but we made some silly errors at silly times.” second-year head coach Jim Moore said. “We have to be smarter than that when playing teams of this caliber.”

For the match, the Ducks out-hit Washington, .230 to .222, and committed 23 attack errors to 24 for the Huskies. Oregon also held a slight advantage on the block, 8.0 to 6.0, but 16 service errors ultimately made the difference.

“They (the players) are real disappointed, but we have to move on and get ready for (Washington State) tomorrow,” said Moore.

UW received match-highs of 21 kills and 23.5 points from junior outside hitter Christal Morrison, and 14 kills and 16.5 points from junior hitter Stevie Mussie.

Sophomore hitter Mira Djuric led a balanced UO attack with 19 kills and 22.5 points. Senior middle blocker Kristen Bitter had 10 kills and hit a match-best .471. All told, five Ducks recorded nine or more kills.

Sophomore libero Katie Swoboda had a team-high 22 digs and freshman setter Nevena Djordjevic had 34 assists for the Ducks, who remain four wins shy of their first winning season since 1990.

QUACK TRACKS: Oregon took a game off UW for the first time in the rally scoring era and the first time in 11 matches overall, dating back to 2000 ... the match marked the first four-set loss for UO this season ... Oregon and WSU split last season’s two-match series with each side winning on its home floor.

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