Oct. 29, 1999
EUGENE, Ore. - The University of Oregon women's volleyball team dropped its 16th straight match Friday, losing to the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal in three games, 15-2, 15-6, 15-4, at McArthur Court in front of 1,120 fans, their second-largest home crowd this season.
"I was happy with our level of play in this match," Stanford head coach Don Shaw said. "We were able to play a lot of people. It's never easy to play this type of match, but I thought we handled it well."
For the Cardinal, it was their 17th win in the last 18 matches to stay one game behind No. 7 UCLA in the loss column in the Pac-10 standings -- setting up a potential first-place showdown Nov. 5 at Stanford. Stanford also raised its all-time ledger against Oregon to 30-2 with its 20th straight win against the Ducks.
With Friday's loss, the Ducks' record fell to 0-12 in Pac-10 play (6-15 overall), while Stanford improved to 10-1 in Pac-10 action (18-2 overall).
"I thought that we had some good plays mixed throughout, tonight," Oregon head coach Cathy Nelson said, "but we were plagued by inconsistency. Against a team like Stanford, little mistakes become big mistakes, so it's hard coming into a match expecting to win."
Cardinal frosh outside hitter Logan Tom led all players with 15 kills and a .478 attack percentage, while senior outside hitter Keri Walsh added seven kills in just nine attempts for a .778 attack percentage. The Cardinal hit .300 or better as a team for the 13th team this season and also reached double figures in blocks for the 13th time.
Oregon sophomore Monique Tobbagi paced the home green and yellow with six kills, while junior Amy Banducci added five kills. The Ducks again sported a balanced rotation as 13 players saw action in the three-game affair with eight posting kills.
The Ducks lost 15-2 in Game 1, but put up a fight early in Game 2 before falling 15-6. In the third game, Nelson's crew received solid efforts from reserves sophomore Annie Pogue and junior Laura Norton. Pogue and Norton recorded 2 and 1 kills, respectively, and led all Duck players with .667 and .500 hitting percentages. Freshman Kristin Ferris added to the front-row play, helping the Ducks rally for four points in the third game before falling 15-4.
"In the third game, Kristin came in and has two quick kills, that was a great for a player who hadn't swung before this season," Nelson said. "Mara (Kelly) and Annie came in off the bench and were other bright spots for our team. Annie had some good swings and lifted us with her play."
Despite the loss, Nelson was pleased with her team's intensity throughout the match. "I thought we had some positive signs at times, and our overall intensity was fairly good. Monique was physically slowed, and we could tell she was in pain, even though she tried to hide it. She hadn't jumped hardly at all in practice this week, and was still hurting tonight. We'll probably have to do the same with her this week, too."
Stanford next travels to Oregon State Saturday, while the Ducks are off until their Civil War match- up against the Beavers at McArthur Court, Friday, Nov. 5th at 7:00 pm.
--UO--