Sept. 22, 2007
Box Score
EUGENE, Ore. -- The Washington State volleyball team lost in straight sets Saturday night to the No. 24 Oregon Ducks with game scores 30-24, 30-24, 30-22. This was the 12th consecutive road match for the Cougars who last played in Bohler Gym Aug. 28.
WSU, 9-7 overall, 0-2 in Pac-10 action, was led by the nine kills from Adetokunbo Faleti and six blocks from Tara West. Maureen Perez had 26 assists and 10 digs while Kelly Hyder had a match-high 21 digs, and Jackie Albright added 14 digs.
Oregon moves to a 12-2 overall record, 1-1 in conference play. Sonja Newcombe had 15 kills and Gorana Maricic had 10 kills. Kristen Forristall had a match-high seven blocks and Karen Waddington added another five blocks. Setter Nevena Djordjevic had 25 assists and 10 digs as libero Katie Swoboda had 15 digs.
While both teams came into the match after five-game losses Friday night, WSU to Oregon State and Oregon to No. 8 Washington, Oregon was the stronger team in this contest. The Ducks hit .234 and held WSU to .053 with UO landing 53 kills to WSU's 33. Oregon also out-blocked the Cougs, 13 to 9.
WSU was down six points early in the first game and cut the deficit to three, 22-19. The Ducks rallied for three consecutive points, forcing the Cougs to take a timeout. The teams then traded points until a Forristall kill was followed by a WSU hitting error, putting Oregon serving for game. West and Faleti combined for a block and Faleti laced a kill mid-court, closing the gap to 29-24. Newcombe's kill gave the Ducks the 30-24 win.
Cougars took an early 7-3 lead but the Ducks reeled off six points for the 9-7 lead. WSU had its own string of points, down 22-15, the Cougs put up six straight to narrow the Oregon lead to 22-21. UO turned the tide with a four-point run and WSU could only counter with a pair of points. Down 26-23, Faleti smashed a kill for the Cougars' final game point as consecutive kills from Newcombe, Enesi and Maricic gave Oregon the 30-24 win.
The third game was all Ducks as the front line of Waddington and Forristall provided five blocks each and WSU could not find the handle on the attack. Oregon holds the Cougars to a .000 hitting percentage and takes the game, 30-22.
"Our performances were very different at Oregon State versus Oregon," Cougar Head Coach Brian Heffernan said. "I think we learned at Oregon that we need to come out and execute our game plan right from the very start. At the end of each of the games against the University of Oregon we became very aggressive and starting taking risks and executing the things we had planned for our team right from the beginning. But at that point, it was a little too late for us to begin those things. This week in practice, we will concentrate on just really attacking our opponent, having a game plan and executing that game plan. We will be really trying to enlist our team to play with a little more urgency; to get to five first or get to ten first so we come out with a sense of execution and the ability to put some pressure on our opponents."
Washington State hosts No. 8 Washington Friday, Sept. 28, at Bohler Gym.
No. 24 Oregon (12-2, 1-1) def. Washington State (9-7, 0-2) 30-24, 30-24, 30-22
KILLS - WSU 33 (Faleti 9), UO 53 (Newcombe 15)
HITTING PERCENTAGE - WSU .053, UO .234
ASSISTS - WSU 30 (Perez 26), UO 46 (Djordjevic 25)
DIGS - WSU 55 (Hyder 21), UO 46 (Swoboda 15)
BLOCKS - WSU 9 (West 6), UO 13 (Forristall 7)
SERVICE ACES - WSU 4 (Albright 2), UO 2 (Djordjevic 1, Newcombe 1)
Attendance: 890.
