By Oregon Media Services Published: Nov 12, 2011 at 3:08 PM PST
EUGENE - Facing an 0-2 deficit against a No. 1-ranked UCLA team that had won eight straight, the No. 20 University of Oregon volleyball team (18-7, 11-6) rallied to beat its second top-ranked foe of the season and all-time Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Bruins (22-4, 15-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to 25-20 and 25-23 wins in the first and second sets. However, a 7-0 run by Oregon late in the latter stanza showed that the Ducks were not ready to go quietly.
UO won the next two sets, 25-15 and 25-18, then used a 7-2 finishing run to win the deciding set, 25-18.
"I'm pleased that we won, but I will put it in perspective like I did at Penn State," Moore said. "Tonight is just one match, and we put ourselves in a big hole early. However, we fought back, and to make the second set close helped a lot. We got great contributions from the bench. Jakyln (Wheeler) did a great job, and Savannah (Paffen) was awesome, too."
Friday's win evened the team series at 5-5 in the last five years' worth of regular season meetings, thanks to UO upsets in Eugene in 2007 (3-0), '08 (3-2) and '09 (3-2), and another road upset in '08 (3-2).
For comparison's sake, UO owned a 1-41 record all-time against UCLA before the arrival of its seventh-year mentor.
On Friday, the Ducks out-hit the Bruins .253-.173, and also held edges in assists (63-51), aces (7-5), digs (71-68) and blocks (12-10), and the latter category was a new season high by one.
Individually for UO, redshirt junior outside hitter Alaina Bergsma posted a new career high in points (29), thanks to her 25 kills - the 19th and 20th times that she's paced the team in each category this season.
The Chandler, Ariz., native also hit .290 against one of the nation's top defensive teams, added two aces, eight digs and three blocks, and carried the team when necessary in arguably her best collegiate match.
Junior outside hitter Katherine Fischer added 12 kills, and posted her eighth double-double this season after she tied her career high in digs (20). The latter mark also led the team for the sixth time this year.
Junior libero Haley Jacob ended one behind in digs (19), and junior defensive specialist Kellie Kawasaki's 10 digs gave UO three players with double-digit dig tallies for the 12th time in 2011.
Kawasaki added four aces to tie Fischer's team season high and rewrite her former career best (3) that came vs. Portland in 2009.
Sophomore setter Lauren Plum ended with 56 assists - two off her season high - and posted eight digs and four kills.
Sophomore middle blocker Ariana Williams posted a team season high in block solos (3), and tied her season best in total blocks (5) to lead the team in the category for the 10th match this campaign. The Riverside, Calif., native also added nine kills and hit .333 - her 14th +.300 effort in 2011.
UO also received key contributions from a host of other players that boosted the team the last three periods, including freshman middle blocker Savannah Paffen and sophomore outside hitter Jaklyn Wheeler.
Paffen led the team in blocks (5) for the third time this season and posted a new career high, and tied her career high in kills (7). Not surprisingly, her 10.5 points was also a new personal best.
Wheeler also connected on a new career high in kills (5) that almost doubled her previous career best from last season (3 at Stanford).
For UCLA at match's end, category leaders included Rachael Kidder (15 kills), Mariana Aquino (.348, 3 blocks), Lauren Van Orden (41 assists), Lainey Gera (23 digs), Zoe Nightengale (3 blocks) and Bojana Todorovic (3 aces).
The Bruins entered Friday's match on a 13-1 win streak with its only loss since late September a 3-2 upset at Arizona a month ago. In that span, it had beaten both returning Pac-10 co-champions California and Stanford twice (when the Bears ranked No. 1 and No. 2 and the Cardinal stood No. 2 and No. 5), and also blanked then-No. 10 Washington at home.
Conversely, the Ducks entered the year 0-18 against top-ranked teams in school history, and its highest-ever upset a home sweep of then-No. 4 USC in 2008. However, that changed in August when then-unranked Oregon upset four-time defending national champion Penn State in the season-opening AVCA Showcase, and ended its NCAA-record 94-match home win streak.
Now all-time under Jim Moore, UO has staked all five of its wins against top-five teams in school history, 15 of its 21 wins against top-10 teams, and 21 of its 39 all-time decisions over top-25 opponents.
In other action around the league Friday, No. 4 USC swept Oregon State in Corvallis; No. 5 California swept Washington State in Pullman; No. 11 Washington came back from a 2-1 deficit to beat No. 3 Stanford in Seattle; and Arizona swept Utah in Salt Lake City.
Looking ahead, UO welcomes another top-five foe on Saturday night when it hosts No. 4 USC at 8:30 p.m.
Fans are invited to come to Matthew Knight Arena early to watch No. 6 Oregon's football clash at No. 3 Stanford Saturday that starts at 5 p.m.
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