Oregon’s Friday night matchup against the California Golden Bears was all about “first times” of the season.
Led by three freshmen, the Ducks volleyball team couldn’t complete the comeback, losing in five sets 13-25, 29-27, 25-20, 20-25 and 13-15. It was the first time all year Oregon went into five sets with a team.
Kacey Nady continued her stellar weekend with career highs of seven kills and 10 blocks, the only freshman in the Pac-12 to accomplish double-digit blocks on the year. Fellow freshman Naya Crittenden set a career-high for kills with 10 on the night also while freshman libero Amanda Benson recorded a career-high 31 digs, the most by a Duck this year.
Oregon’s All-American Liz Brenner and Ariana Williams combined for 31 of the teams 68 kills while Brenner added a career-high of 22 digs. Lauren Plum returned to the lineup tonight and saw significant action, dishing out a team-high 30 assists while Shellsy Ashen added 28.
Cal’s effort was spearheaded by four players who combined for 61 of the teams 68 kills with Lara Vukasovic and Adrienne Gehan each committing 17 kills. Joan Caloiaro notched 57 assists while Maddy Kerr led one of five Golden Bears in double digit digs with 33.
Set one showed no real promise from Oregon as the Golden Bears came out hot in front of their home crowd and rolled to the victory, slowly pulling away the entire set.
The Ducks came out fighting in set two after trailing early and battling back to even the score. A huge block by Ashen gave Oregon the victory in the Ducks’ fourth set point of the match as Cal refused to quit.
Set three is where Oregon took charge of the match with a late rally. After Nady and Crittenden did their best to tie the score at 17-17, the Ducks used a 5-0 run to pull away for the 22-17 lead. Both teams traded points the rest of the way which led to Oregon’s 2-1 lead.
The fourth set proved to be all Cal as the Golden Bears weren’t going down without a fight. An early Cal lead proved to be too much for Oregon as the Ducks were unable to pull out the game-winner, forcing a fifth and deciding set.
Set five saw Oregon taking an 11-9 lead and being four points away from victory before Cal rallied for the win. A 5-1 rally by Cal gave them the lead but Oregon responded with a point to cut the deficit to one. Caloiaro ended the match on her own terms with one of her two kills for the night.
Oregon returns to action Friday, Nov. 1 when they host Arizona State, a team they beat 3-1 earlier in the year in Tempe, Ariz. at 6 p.m.