Pac-10 Women's Volleyball: #16 Oregon Sweeps Arizona

The 16th-ranked Ducks improve to 16-6 on the year, and 5-5 in the Pacific-10 Conference.

Junior Gorana Maricic led Oregon with 23 kills against Arizona. Photo courtesy: goducks.com

EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon fought off game point, coming back from a 27-29 deficit in game three, to complete the sweep (30-20, 30-18, 31-29) of Arizona on Thursday night at Mac Court.

The 16th-ranked Ducks improve to 16-6 on the year, and 5-5 in the Pacific-10 Conference. Arizona drops to 12-10 on the year and 2-8 in league.

Oregon dominated in games one and two, never surrendering its lead from the start, but in game three, the Wildcats had a 29-27 advantage in a contest that involved three lead changes and 14 tie scores.

Arizona’s Tiffany Owens committed a service error on game point, before back-to-back kills from Gorana Maricic gave the Ducks a 30-29 lead. Heather Meyers and Neticia Enesi ended the match, combining on a stuff of Arizona’s Brooke Buringrud.

Oregon hit an astonishing .423 (59-12-111) in the match, the team’s best clip against a conference foe this season, and eclipsing the mark of .366 set last week at Oregon State.

Maricic hit .500 in the match, her best clip against a Pac-10 foe this season, and totaled a match-leading 23 kills, while adding nine digs and three service aces.

Sophomore Sonja Newcombe added 15 kills, hitting .364, while Meyers hit a match-best .733 (11-0-15) – also her best mark in league this season. It was the second straight contest the trio each recorded double-digit kills.

Junior Kristen Forristall also had a solid night hitting .556 (7-2-9).

Operating the offense was the combination of sophomore Nevena Djordjevic and freshman Rachel Morris. The duo combined for 57 assists.

Junior libero Katie Swoboda led Oregon with 19 digs, including 10 in the first game.

Arizona was held to a .193 attacking percentage, marking the 13th time this season the Ducks have held an opponent below .200.

Paige Weber led the Wildcats’ offense with 29 assists, while Owens was the only Arizona player reaching double figures with 16 kills.

Oregon will look to extend its current two-match winning streak tomorrow night hosting Arizona State at 7 p.m.

Source: goducks.com

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