Volleyball: Oregon pulls away to top Newman at home

OREGON – In a nonconference match between two teams working several new faces into the lineup and trying to find their footing early in the season, Oregon came up with the surges when it needed to in a 25-11, 25-16 win over Newman on Thursday night at the Blackhawk Center.

The Hawks (5-5) used an eight-point run to take control midway through the first set, then scored 12 of 16 points to pull away after the Comets (2-9) cut the deficit to 10-9 in the second set.

[ Photos from Newman at Oregon volleyball ]

Oregon was the aggressor at the net with a balanced attack, spreading out 20 kills and four blocks between seven players. The key was a smooth transition from defense to offense.

“I think our hitting improved today. We had a lot of team connection; we’ve kind of had a struggle getting the team playing together, because we’ve got some younger players stepping in. But I think we came together as a team tonight, and it went well,” senior Grace Tremble said. “I think it’s a pretty big deal for us to pass well, like we did tonight. We’ve been working hard on trying to keep the passes off the net, so that we have options in the front row and don’t get stuffed by their block. I think it’s been improving a lot as the season is going on.”

Junior Skylar Bishop was the instigator in the first set, as she spiked three kills and stuffed two blocks in the opener; she finished with four kills, three blocks and six points. Tremble had four kills and four digs in the match, and Mackenzie Brown also spiked four kills as the Hawks had plenty of opportunities to swing thanks to that consistent passing and a pesky defense.

“It gives us a lot of confidence, because it brings a lot of energy to have everybody playing a part,” Bishop said. “Our connection was a lot better, really good today. We’ve been working on that a lot in practice, because that’s something we’ve been struggling with. But we really did good on that today.

“And I thought we did a lot of good covering of our hitters today. We’ve been working on that a lot, and we really put it in play today. It was a good win, especially at home with the student section cheering us on.”

After getting to within 12-9 on a Lucy Oetting kill in the first set before Oregon pulled away, the Comets hung around early in the second set. A kill by Marykay Downs cut their deficit to 8-6, then she served a pair of points on back-to-back Oregon errors to make it 10-9.

“We put it in smarter places tonight. We can’t always hit it, but we try to put it in the best places to score,” Newman sophomore setter Brooklyn Smith said. “Even when we don’t have the best rallies, we come together and talk about it in the middle before the next point, which is great.”

Miranda Ciesiel spiked a kill and Deleanah Koertner stuffed a block and added a kill for Oregon around an Isabella Lanning kill for Newman, then Tremble ripped a kill for a 17-11 Hawks lead. Lauren McClain and Downs each had a block in the next sequence for the Comets, but kills by Bishop, Tremble and Ciesiel pushed the Oregon lead to 22-13.

Downs served a late ace, but a kill by Ciesiel and a block by Bishop finished off the match.

Ciesiel had three kills, Koertner added two kills and a block, and Maddie Wendt also spiked a pair of kills for the Hawks. Anna Stender had 11 assists, nine points and eight digs, Emma Eckerd added three assists, four points and four digs, and Madi Shaffer led the way with 13 digs.

Smith dished nine assists to go with six digs for the Comets, and Oetting led the way with four kills and added five digs. Downs and McClain each had two kills and a block, Lanning led the defense with nine digs, and Blair Grennan chipped in four digs.

“I think it’s good that we’re playing better teams like this, because it gets us talking more, and it gets us playing better. These good teams early in the season, it helps us get better. Even if they’re not conference games, they still give us the experience we need,” Smith said. “Because we’re such a young team, we’ve started a new rotation every time, and I feel like all of us are starting to mold together better as a team. We’re talking less than we should be, but I feel like we’re getting there.”