No. 21 Oregon Escapes With Win at Arizona State

Junior outside hitter Gorana Maricic recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 26 kills and 13 digs for the Ducks.

Senior Karen Waddington had three solo blocks for Oregon on Thursday night. Photo courtesy: goducks.com

TEMPE, Ariz. - For the first time in 11 years, the 21st-ranked Oregon volleyball team escaped Tempe triumphantly, but it wasn’t easy as the Ducks needed four games (30-23, 40-42, 30-25, 32-30) to edge Arizona State and notch their second straight Pacific-10 victory on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

Oregon is now 13-2 overall and 2-1 in league – the program’s best start to conference since the 1990 season.

Arizona State drops to .500 at 8-8 and winless (0-3) in the Pac-10.

Oregon revived itself from three separate six-point deficits in the fourth and final game, including rallying off five consecutive points on three kills, one block and one service ace to climb back into the match at 22-22.

With the fourth game tied 30-30, Oregon libero Katie Swoboda served the final two points.

Sonja Newcombe’s 19th kill of the match, followed by a collective effort on a block from sophomores Neticia Enesi and Nevena Djordjevic clinched the victory.

"I am very proud of this team tonight," head coach Jim Moore said. "We were on the road and found ourself trailing at times, but this group didn't panic. They were able to regroup and grind out wins. Especially after an exhausting game two, we were able to put the third and fourth games away when we needed to."

Junior outside hitter Gorana Maricic recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 26 kills and 13 digs.

Newcombe set a new season high with 19 kills, while also picking up a double-double, her fourth of the year, by adding 12 digs and six total blocks.

It was a joint effort from Oregon as freshman Heather Meyers added 11 kills and three service aces, while Enesi matched her season high with nine kills, hit .438 and added six total blocks.

Senior Karen Waddington added seven kills and five total blocks, three of which were solo, a new season high.

"Everyone contributed to this victory tonight," Moore said. "Our blockers did an excellent job and our setters were able to spread the ball around for our attack to work effectively."

Djordjevic's 43 assists were a new season high, while the team's 19.0 blocks was also a best in 2007.

The Ducks hit .282 compared to Arizona State’s .228.

The Sun Devils were led by Sarah Reaves’ 28 kills and Marina Mercer’s 72 assists.

In the first game Oregon started slowly, trailing 2-6, but the Ducks made their way back into the game at 7-7 as Djordjevic spread the offense around, tallying a kill of her own while also setting up Newcombe, Maricic and Meyers.

Oregon took the lead for good at 9-8 and rallied off four straight points to create some breathing room with a 15-11 advantage.

Game two turned into a marathon with the home team eventually prevailing, 42-40.

The highest scoring game in Oregon’s program history since the start of rally scoring in 2001, neither team had more than a two-point advantage the entire way.

After two games things were even at 1-1, with Oregon hitting .316 and led by Maricic and Newcombe, who each had already reached double figures in points and kills.

Waddington also had three solo blocks to her credit in those first two games.

Oregon now heads to Arizona (11-4, 1-2) for the second match of the weekend tomorrow.

A live stats and video link will be provided on www.GoDucks.com.

The Wildcats swept Oregon State in their Thursday night action, and have not lost to the Ducks in Tucson since Oct. 30, 1998.

Source: goducks.com

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