Balance and persistence. And a huge block.
It proved to be the right combination for Colorado State on Thursday night.
The Rams (24-5) stuffed Oregon’s postseason hopes, coming up with 18 blocks in outlasting the Ducks 24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 15-25, 15-10 in the opening match of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament first round at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Junior middle Megan Plourde, the national leader in blocks, finished with 11 to go with 15 kills over the 2 hours and 20 minutes. The Mountain West Conference champion also got 15 kills from senior hitter Katelyn Steffan and 10 from junior hitter Dana Cranston in taking down the Ducks (21-10).
Oregon was the second Pac-12 team to lose in five Thursday. At the subregional in Malibu, Calif., North Carolina stunned California.
Colorado State will face former Western Athletic Conference foe and host Hawaii in today’s 7 p.m. second round. Coach Tom Hilbert said the key will be to slow down Rainbow Wahine All-American Kanani Danielson, "one of the best outside hitters in the country."
The Rams regrouped after being blown out in Set 4, taking a quick 3-0 lead in Set 5. The Ducks pulled to within 11-10, but "we were playing tentative," Oregon coach Jim Moore said. "We didn’t play to win, we played not to lose.
"We said all year long if Alaina (Bergsma) got 30 kills, we were going to lose."
Bergsma, named Miss Oregon USA on Sunday, finished with 30. The junior hitter was the Oregon offense for much of the match, with freshman hitter Liz Brenner adding 11 kills. Junior libero Haley Jacob had 32 of the Ducks’ 84 digs.
Oregon was 4-2 in five-set matches before Thursday, winning twice on the road two weeks ago at Stanford and at Cal. CSU was 3-2, "but we came out in the fifth and did the right things tonight," Hilbert said.
"We know we can compete with anyone in the country," Steffan said. "I feel that we will have to stay composed (against Hawaii). We know they’ll have a large crowd."
