No. 19 Oregon Falls to No. 10 Cal

Oregon junior outside hitter Gorana Maricic provided the majority of the Ducks’ offense, leading both teams with 31 kills.

Junior Gorana Maricic led Oregon with 31 kills and 10 digs. Photo courtesy: goducks.com

EUGENE, Ore. - The 10th-ranked California Bears left McArthur Court on Thursday night picking up their first Pacific-10 conference victory, defeating No. 19 Oregon 3-1 (30-27, 31-29, 22-30, 30-24).

The No. 19 Ducks fall to 14-3 overall and 3-2 in the Pac-10, while No. 10 California improves to 11-4 overall and 1-3 in conference.

Cal had four players reach double figures in kills, led by Hana Cutura’s 23 kills and .405 attacking percentage.

Angie Pressey hit .378 with 15 kills, while Morgan Beck added 13 kills and 10 digs. Ellen Orchard posted 11 kills.

Oregon junior outside hitter Gorana Maricic provided the majority of the Ducks’ offense, leading both teams with 31 kills, and picking up her seventh double-double of the year adding 10 digs.

Junior Katie Swoboda led Oregon’s defense with 28 digs, but even the Portland native’s efforts on the back line could not prevent Cal from hitting .314 in the match.

It was the first time this year the Ducks allowed a team to hit over .300.

Also for the first time this season, Oregon found itself trailing two games to none at the break. While Oregon was hitting an even .200, the Ducks could not find a defensive answer for the Bears.

California, guided by setter Carli Lloyd, hit .367 in the first two games combined, led by Cutura and Pressey.

The Ducks looked as if they were well on their way to climbing back in the match after a decisive 30-22 victory in game 3.

Oregon was led by Maricic’s 10 kills in that game, while the Bears struggled with seven attacking errors, hitting just .132.

In game four Oregon continued to rally with Cal, with the last tie score at 19-19.

But the Ducks were never able to take the lead in the final and decisive game as the Bears went on a six-point run.

The match featured a total of 35 tied scores and 13 lead changes.

Senior Karen Waddington led Oregon with four blocks, while sophomore Nevena Djordjevic had 34 assists.

Lloyd led Cal with 61 assists.

Oregon is now 0-2 against teams ranked in the top 10 (Washington and California) and 1-2 against top 25 programs, with the victory coming against 20th-ranked Ohio State on Sept. 15.

Oregon returns to Mac Court to play the undefeated and No.2 Stanford Cardinal tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Source: goducks.com

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