No. 15 Trojans Vanquish No. 18 Duck Volleyball, 3-0

Oregon called timeouts at 19-16 and 20-16 to try and stall a final Trojan run, but a pair of USC blocks and Jupiter's final kill marked the deciding points of the match.

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EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 15 USC volleyball team (18-9, 7-9) ended a two-match losing streak at McArthur Court with a 3-0 win Friday night over the University of Oregon (16-9, 6-9).

In a battle between the two teams tied for sixth place in the Pac-10, the Trojans won their third straight contest the past two weeks over a Northwest rival, this time by a 25-22, 25-18, 25-19 score. USC's decision Friday in the historic facility also avenged Oregon's 3-0 sweep last season and a 3-1 Duck victory in '07.

Senior middle blocker Neticia Enesi led the Ducks in hitting (.471) and blocks (3) for the 14th and 12th times this season, respectively, while her hitting mark was also her 14th above .400 in '09. The returning All-American's nine kills was also her 14th match this year with nine or more.

Freshman outside hitter Katherine Fischer and junior outside hitter Heather Meyers tied for the team lead in kills (11) and added nine and eight digs. Meyers' kill tally was the fourth the past five matches that she's topped the team, while Fischer's team digs high was her third the last five contests.

Among other Duck stats, senior Sonja Newcombe shared the team high in digs (9) and connected on seven kills and an ace, and senior setter Nevena Djordjevic came away with 37 assists, an ace and a dig.

USC's hitters combined for a .361 attack percentage on the evening - the second-highest mark by a Duck foe this season behind Stanford's .378 total last weekend in Palo Alto, and the fourth +.300 mark the past five matches (compared to only one instance the first 20 matches of the season).

In contrast, Oregon hit .168 as a team, and in other comparisons, USC held advantages in blocks (13-5), kills (47-40), assists (43-38) and digs (40-35), while Oregon claimed a 2-1 edge in service aces.

"Our defense didn't make them work hard enough, while they in turn played great defense," Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. "We had focused on that all week in practice but we didn't do it tonight. Teesh hit really well tonight, and before the match appeared excited and happy. However, I could tell that the rest of the team was too tight early in the match."

For USC, sophomore outside hitter Alex Jupiter ended with 22 kills - nearly triple the next-highest Trojan hitters (Jessica Gysin and Lauren Williams who each had eight kills) - and also paced the hitting (.514), digs (12) and points (24.5) columns. Other USC category leaders included Kendall Bateman (40 assists), Kimmee Roleder (1 ace) and Williams (7 blocks).

In the first set, after USC got out to a 6-3 lead on a pair of blocks and kills by Jupiter and Williams, the Ducks fought back to tie it 8-8 on two kills each by Enesi and Meyers. Nine more ties followed up until 21-21, and the play before Fischer earned a hearty round of applause for a diving dig near the net that rainbowed over the net to the far left corner for a point. However, USC's Jupiter landed two more of her seven kills in the stanza, and the Trojans issued their sixth block of the set for a 25-22 winning margin.

In the second set, the two teams fought back and forth through six ties to a 10-10 score when USC went on a 7-2 run to go up 17-12 on another Jupiter kill. At 19-15, Dana Stephenson notched UO's first block solo of the match on an attempt by Audrey Eichler, but USC ended the set on a 5-2 run for a 25-18 decision.

In the third set, neither team led by more than two points until a Jupiter kill at 17-14. Oregon called timeouts at 19-16 and 20-16 to try and stall a final Trojan run, but a pair of USC blocks and Jupiter's final kill marked the deciding points of the match.

In other action around the Pac-10 Friday evening, No. 6 Stanford won 3-2 at No. 19 Arizona, No. 11 California won 3-1 at Arizona State, and No. 7 UCLA swept Oregon State, 3-0, in Corvallis.

Looking ahead, the Ducks return to Mac Court Saturday night for their final home match of the season - a 8 p.m. showdown vs. No. 7 UCLA. Before the match, UO's five-person senior class of Djordjevic, Enesi, Newcombe, defensive specialist Amanda Westrick and outside hitter Emilee Sisco will be honored in a special ceremony.

The match is also a Bi-Mart Family Day - admission is only $12 for two adults and two children when they show a Bi-Mart card at the Mac Court ticket window Saturday.

Source: GoDucks.com

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