It’s a good thing that size isn’t everything when it comes to volleyball.
When No. 18 Oregon took the floor against No. 23 Michigan State, it was evident that the Spartans were superior in size as their front line towered over the likes of Oregon’s Liz Brenner, Martenne Bettendorf and Kacey Nady.
“It’s about playing volleyball and we served and passed; that’s the key to playing volleyball,” Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “When you serve and pass, you can neutralize a lot of someone else’s physicality.”
What the Ducks lacked in size, they made up for in skill, tenacity and depth as they defeated the Spartans 3-1 and ran their undefeated record to 7-0.
Five different Oregon players had six or more kills while Bettendorf led the way with 16. Brenner added 12 kills and 15 digs while freshman Frankie Shebby added 13 kills.
“If we can just stay balanced, stay balanced, stay balanced, that’s the key,” Moore said.
As a team, Oregon hit .314 while holding the Spartans to a .090 hitting percentage. Much of Michigan State’s low hitting percentage was the Ducks’ net play as they totaled 12 blocks, seven more than the taller Spartans.
Maggie Scott had a match-high 30 assists while Shellsy Ashen contributed 18 assists and Benson added a team-high 17 digs.
“Maggie and Shellsy are doing a terrific job of mixing it up,” Bettendorf said of her setters. “They go one way and once they (opposing teams) start thinking we’re going to go that way, they’re (Scott and Ashen) very deceptive and can push it out the other way.”
Oregon began the match like it had been shot out of a cannon, jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the Spartans rallied with a 6-0 run to take the 6-2 lead and prompt Moore to call a timeout. The Ducks responded with a 5-0 run of their own, aided by a Bettendorf block and kill to take the brief one-point lead.
The set would be back and forth from that point with no lead being more than three points. With Oregon leading 21-18, the Spartans rallied one more time and finished off the set on a 7-1 run to take a 1-0 lead with a 25-22 win.
Not wanting to go down 2-0 on their home court, the Ducks rallied in the second set by jumping out to a 6-2 lead with the benefit of two Bettendorf kills and three Michigan State errors.
With the score 9-6, Oregon went on an 11-1 run to break the set wide open as Warner, Bettendorf and Shebby all contributed kills during that stretch. The Ducks didn’t let off the throttle as Naya Crittenden had two kills, including the deciding point, in the set to earn the 25-13 victory.
“You can’t be nervous and attack somebody,” Moore said. “We were playing not to lose – we have to go after them right from the beginning.”
The third set began much like the first did as Oregon, led by Bettendorf, jumped out to an early lead (5-2) before the Spartans rallied to take a 6-5. The set remained close but with the score tied at 10, the Ducks went on a 9-2 run to take a 19-12 lead and seize control of the set. Crittenden scored two of Oregon’s final three points with a block and kill while Brenner added a kill in the middle to help the Ducks win the third set 25-15.
It was the Bettendorf show in the fourth set as the junior started things off with back-to-back kills for the early lead.
Unlike the previous three sets, the Ducks kept on adding to their lead as a Spartan net violation culminated in a 15-6 Oregon lead. Michigan State responded by scoring the next three points to seize the momentum and prompt Moore to call a timeout and calm his team down.
Whatever was said in the timeout worked as Brenner delivered a massive kill that knocked the Spartan libero to the ground and kickstarted a 10-3 rally to end the match and give Oregon a 25-12 victory in the fourth set.
“There are a lot of other teams that are really good so we are just going to have to take it every point one at a time,” Bettendorf said.
Oregon returns to action tomorrow when they face the Michigan Wolverines at 7:30 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.