Oregon Sweep of USC Highlights Weekend

Two nights after defeating No. 1 UCLA to move to 13-0 on the season, the USC women came crashing back to earth. Oregon came into USC's Galen Center on Friday night and swept the Trojans, 25-19, 25-15, 25-23. The Ducks, now 11-0, must be considered among the nation's elite at this point in the season.

Against the Bruins on Wednesday, the Trojans seemingly sided-out at will, winning points on 71% of UCLA's serves. On Friday, the Ducks took siding-out to a new level against the Trojans, reaching 77% effectiveness. In the first two games especially, Oregon's serve-return performance was spectacular, attaining side-out rates of 84 and 81 percent (box score).

The Ducks outhit the Trojans, .357-.189. Three Oregon players recorded superb hitting nights: outside hitter Liz Brenner, .577 (16 kills, 1 error, 26 attempts); OH Alaina Bergsma, .438 (18-4-32); and middle blocker Ariana Williams, .375 (8-2-16). UO attempted 115 spikes, only 14 of which resulted in errors (6 hit out-of-bounds, 8 blocked by USC for immediate Trojan points). Of Oregon's 101 non-error attacks, USC dug up only 37 of them (37%). In contrast, 'SC dug much more effectively against UCLA, retrieving 46% of the Bruins' non-error attacks [58/(145 - 20)].

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Across town on Friday, UCLA came back from its USC loss to rout Oregon State, 25-14, 25-18, 25-17. Clearly, the Beavers were not the same team that had beaten then-No. 2 Penn State on September 8.

Against Oregon State, UCLA outside hitters Tabi Love and Rachael Kidder recorded nearly identical hitting lines. Each hit .333 on 27 attempts, with Love amassing 12 kills and 3 errors, and Kidder, 14 kills and 5 errors.