The Buffs Split Battle Against Oregon at Home
Oregon
The CU volleyball team lost against No. 11 Oregon on Oct. 1 at home, 3-1 in four sets marking their second loss of the season, making their record 11-2.
Before the start of the game, outside hitter Leah Clayton, was suspended indefinitely due to a violation of team rules. Clayton was ranked second in the Pac-12 with an average of 4.33 kills per set and overall crucial offensive player for the team. Freshman outside hitter Jahara Campbell stepped up to swing in light of Clayton’s suspension.
Despite the events leading up to the game, the Buffs worked for each point and tried to adapt quickly to the Ducks offense. Jenna Ewert had 38 assists and 11 digs; Maya Tabron who had a team high of 13 kills and 15 digs; Jill Schneggenburger had 11 kills and 13 digs through the sets; and Brynna DeLuzio had a total of 23 digs. However, the Ducks put up a heavy offensive battle with a .199 hitting percentage compared to the Buff’s .120.
There were some injuries throughout the game as well that made things a little more difficult for the Buffs. Jahara Campbell had to come out of the game because of leg cramps and was replaced by Kelley Levaggi, towards the end of the game, who did excellent replacing the senior. Zoe Neverdowski had a more serious injury and is looking to be out at least four-to-six weeks. She was replaced by Morgan Riddle who did amazing as well.
“Besides some of the things that happened earlier in the week, we had a great week of practice. Maybe some nerves came into effect in this game,” Libero Brynna DeLuzio said. “From what we saw in practice and what we saw in short spurts of this game, we have a lot of potential and I’m looking forward to that.”
Oregon State
The Buffs regrouped and played two days later on Oct. 3 against Oregon State at home and won 3-0.
They ended up earning their 11th win hitting .332 against the Beavers. Maya Tabron led the team with 13 kills, .435 hitting percentage, 9 digs and two blocks. Alexia Kuehl had a strong hitting percentage which led to a total of 7 kills and 5 blocks throughout the sets.
Jill Schneggenburger also had 7 kills and Meegan Hart had six kills total along with 4 blocks. Jenna Ewert had 33 assists and one of three aces throughout the game. Jahara Campbell had 3 blocks and Brynna DeLuzio led the team with a dozen digs. Overall a great turnaround from a rough start to the week due to cohesive teamwork and an excellent defense.
“Last week was a little bit of a stressful week with losing a couple of players (Leah Clayton to suspension, Jahara Campbell due leg cramps and Zoe Neverdowski due to serious injury) and having to reshuffle some things and figure out a lineup that works and makes sense for us,” Head Coach Jesse Mahoney said. “We’re still evolving a little bit. We lose someone who scores us five points a set. Everyone else has to step up. We’re looking to continue to build and continue to get better going on the road in the Pac-12. It’s always tough, especially against two really good teams (UCLA and USC). We’re going to have to continue to grow.”
They played at UCLA on Oct. 8 and lost in three sets. They move to USC on Sunday, Oct. 10.
“This is the first match we have played this season where I felt we played timidly,” Mahoney said. “We let the first set get away from us with too many errors and once UCLA got momentum we didn’t respond in sets 2 and 3. We will need to respond Sunday at USC.”
