Missed Chances Cost UW Huskies Volleybal Team In First Defeat
Dawgs will look to rebound against Pac-12 leading Stanford at home next Friday.
EUGENE, Ore. – The second-ranked Washington volleyball team saw its 16-match win streak snapped tonight at fifth-ranked Oregon, a disappointing outcome more for how the Huskies put themselves in positions to win but could not close the deal. The Huskies (16-1, 7-1 Pac-12) saw leads in the first and third sets slip away, as Oregon (16-1, 7-1 Pac-12) got the 26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 25-17 victory in front of 3,978 fans at Matthew Knight Arena.
Washington had two set points in the first set, leading 24-22, but the Ducks ran off four points in a row to steal the first frame. After the Huskies came back to level things with a second set win, Washington owned a 20-15 lead in the third set, but Oregon closed on a 10-2 run to regain momentum. Washington and Oregon now sit tied for second in the Pac-12 standings behind 8-0 Stanford, which visits Alaska Airlines Arena this coming Friday for a 6 p.m. match.
“If you don’t play well at the end of games, you’re not going to win. It’s just basic. We made some errors at the end of games. We were in a position for sure to win two other games. Having the ability to stay focused on the things that tell you what to do allows you to be in the right place at the right time.”
Still, the hostile environment should help the Huskies moving forward. “The environment was awesome. I wish every environment was like that for our team,” McLaughlin said. “I don’t think we responded as well as we will.”
The attack percentages were nearly even, with Oregon ending up at .288 compared to .281 for the Huskies. The Ducks had 66 kills to 51 for UW, but the Huskies made up for that with a huge blocking night, rejecting 19 Oregon shots while the Ducks had just five blocks. Washington served aggressively as usual but made 14 service errors, while Oregon missed just seven.
Senior Amanda Gil had 14 block assists, the most since her return to action and the most by any Pac-12 player all year. Sophomore Krista Vansant had 14 kills on a strong .333 attack percentage, while Alaina Bergsma led Oregon with 23 kills on a .348 percentage.
