Oregon State
Oregon
Volleyball Sweeps Oregon In Civil War Battle
October 08, 1999 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 8, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Sarah Bjeldanes and Angie Shirley had 15 kills apiece to lead the Oregon State volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep over rival Oregon in the Northwest Dodge Dealers Civil War at Gill Coliseum Friday evening. Game scores were 15-11, 15-4, 15-5.
The Beavers (8-7, 2-5) hit .318 as a team to snap a three-match losing streak, while the struggling Ducks (6-10, 0-7), hit just .150 and lost their 10th straight match.
But first-year coach Nancy Somera, taking part in her first Civil War match, knew the Beavers could not take the Ducks lightly, despite their recent struggles.
"We tried not to concentrate on (Oregon's struggles)," said coach Nancy Somera. "When it comes down to it in a rival match, the records, the wins and losses go out the window. We stepped it up tonight."
UO actually outhit and outdug the Beavers in game one, but OSU took advantage of strong serving to get the extra edge in the game. UO hit .339 with 27 kills, compared with OSU's .327 hitting percentage and 22 kills. The Ducks also had 23 digs to OSU's 18. But, the Beavers served three aces in the opening game, giving them the advantage in the otherwise close contest.
But OSU took over from there, dominating the rest of the match.
With the score at 7-4 in game two, the Beavers got a sideout and scored six straight points, three off kills from Bjeldanes and three off UO errors. A few sideouts later, Shirley closed the game out with a kill.
The Beavers capitalized on UO's errors in game three as well. With OSU holding a slim 3-2 lead, the Beavers went on a 4-0 run, including three points scored off UO attack errors. OSU later put together a 3-0 run, this time from two kills from Shirley and an ace from Gina Schmidt. Bjeldanes put the match away with a solo block to end the contest.
"This team has done a great job of learning from the previous weekend's matches," Somera said. "(Tonight's win) absolutely is a momentum builder. I told the team in the locker room before the match that this is the start of the rest of the season. So, we're 1-0 in this part of the season."
Shirley, who hit .400 for the match, also led OSU with four blocks. Bjeldanes hit .371 added six digs and three blocks. Jessica Papell and Nikki Neuburger tied for the team lead in digs, with nine apiece.
Amy Banducci had a team-high 11 kills for Oregon, and Heather Gilmore had a match-high 13 digs. Annie Pogue hit .353 with eight kills and eight digs.
OSU had 53 kills to UO's 47, and the Beavers outblocked the Ducks, 8-4. Oregon had 54 digs, while the Beavers dug 48 balls.
The Beavers return to action when they host No. 17 Southern California at 8:00 p.m., Friday, October 15.
Match Results
Oregon 11 4 5 Oregon State 15 15 15
