Down two sets to none against Washington State on Friday, the 18th-ranked Oregon volleyball team knew what was coming as it retreated to the locker room for a 10-minute intermission before the third set.
“We got chewed out,” said UO sophomore setter Lauren Plum.
And for good reason.
Before a crowd of 1,135 at Matthew Knight Arena, the lifeless Ducks came out with no energy against the Cougars, dropping the first two sets, 21-25 and 17-25, before roaring back to life.
Oregon won the next two sets in dominant fashion, 25-8 and 25-13, and then finished off WSU in a dramatic fifth set, 15-12.
It was Oregon’s first five-set victory of the season, and 12th straight over the Cougars, who probably deserved a better fate.
“To come out like that is absolutely unacceptable,” said a disappointed UO coach Jim Moore.
“We thought we would just roll right through it and we found out we couldn’t.”
In the decisive fifth set, WSU led, 11-8, before the Ducks got a sideout on a net violation.
Then, with Plum at the service line, UO got a kill from junior Alaina Bergsma, another point on an attack error by the Cougars, and a clutch ace from Plum to take the lead for good at 12-11.
Back-to-back kills by junior Milica Krstojevic and freshman Liz Brenner boosted the UO advantage to 14-11 before a service error cut the lead to 14-12.
It was left to Brenner, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Portland’s Jesuit High School, to notch the game-winning point on a resounding kill. She finished the match with a career-high 15 kills.
“We definitely started out slow,” Brenner said. “But we were determined we were not going to lose that game. We came out a lot tougher (in the last three sets) and played our kind of volleyball.”
Washington State, which fell to 11-10 overall and 3-8 in the Pac-12, opened the match with a vengeance.
With senior outside hitter Meagan Ganzer recording nine of her game-high 22 kills, and sophomore setter Camryn Irwin, a UO transfer, adding 14 assists and six digs, WSU hit a .375 in the first set.
The Cougars continued to roll in the second set, pouncing on numerous UO errors to stretch a slim 11-10 margin to a commanding 20-11 lead.
“We were serving cake,” Moore said. “And they passed everything on a dime.”
After emerging from their halftime “chat,” it was a completely different UO team.
“Everyone knew they had to pick it up; coach didn’t need to tell us that,” said Plum, who finished with 45 assists, 10 digs, four blocks and two aces despite not starting due to a violation of practice rules.
“People finally started being aggressive, and when we do that, we’re really good.”
Added Moore: “We had more energy, we became aggressive and we served tougher. It had nothing to do with them and everything to do with us.”
Bergsma collected her fifth double-double of the season with 18 kills and 11 digs, and also had three blocks.
Krstojevic tied her season-high with six blocks, leading the Ducks for the eighth time this year.
Junior Katherine Fischer added 13 kills and seven digs and Haley Jacob had 20 digs.
The UO defense finished with 10 1/2 blocks — its second-highest total of the season — and has now posted its top four blocking performances of the year in its past four matches. The Ducks hit .244 as a team.
With the win, Oregon improved to 13-6 overall and 6-5 in conference.
The Ducks will return to Matthew Knight Arena tonight with a 7 p.m. match against No. 7 Washington.
The Huskies swept Oregon State on Friday.
Oregon knows it can’t afford another lackluster start.
“You learn things from every match,” Plum said. “You’re never done, even when you’re down 0-2. (Washington State) played a great game, but we really showed how we can play the last couple of games.”
Oregon State fell to No. 7 Washington in three sets on Friday at Gill Coliseum, losing 25-14, 25-21, 25-18.
Megan McBride had 11 kills and 11 assists to lead the Beavers (11-10, 3-8 Pac-12). Becky Defoe also had 24 digs and Tayla Woods had 16 assists.
Krista Vansant led Washington with 12 kills and 12 digs.
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