Huskies clean up, again.

Byline: Chris Hansen The Register-Guard

Whether it was due to panic, as coach Jim Moore said, or lack of focus, as Sonja Newcombe offered, or simply a matter of being too relaxed with a big lead, as Gorana Maricic suggested, Oregon was once again unable to put away a top-10 Washington team.

Up two games to none, the No. 24 Ducks couldn't close the deal, losing 28-30, 26-30, 30-16, 30-25, 15-11 to the eighth-ranked Huskies before a crowd of 2,375 at McArthur Court on Friday night in the Pac-10 Conference opener for both teams.

"I'm just real disappointed," Moore said. "We came out real cautious (for game three). They felt it start slipping away and they panicked."

Oregon hasn't won a Pac-10 match that has gone five games since the Ducks beat No. 16 Arizona in 1998. That includes last season, when the Ducks' 3-2 loss to No. 2 Washington at Mac Court started an eight-game, season-ending losing streak.

"This is way different than last year," Newcombe said. "This loss will not devastate us in any way. It'll motivate us beyond belief. It's a completely different situation and we're a completely different team."

They sure looked like one in the first two games on Friday.

Led by Maricic, who finished with a career high 33 kills, 20 digs and 38 points in her Pac-10 debut, the Ducks (11-2, 0-1) opened up a 7-1 lead to start game one and never trailed despite six ties before the junior outside hitter finished off the Huskies (12-0, 1-0) with a kill.

It was more of the same in the game two, as the score was tied 12 different times before Oregon broke away with a four-point run to make it 21-18 after a pair of aces by Nevena Djordjevic and kills from Newcombe and Maricic.

After Washington used a 4-0 run to cut the Ducks' lead to 27-26, Maricic recorded a kill and an ace to end the game.

"We were just executing overall," said Newcombe, who finished with 15 kills and 15 digs. "Our passing was really good, setting was really good, everything was just on key, just the way we've been playing."

So with a 2-0 lead, Oregon came out of its locker room for game three needing just one more win to record the most significant home victory in Moore's three seasons.

Instead, the wheels came off.

Washington jumped out to a 7-2 lead that became 14-4 then 18-6 and eventually 29-16 before the Huskies Jessica Swarbick ended it with a kill.

The Ducks, who hit .316 in game one and .359 in game two, hit minus-.029 in game three.

"Everybody was real excited and ready to go, then you get up here and nerves get the best of you, I guess ... maybe knowing that a sweep is within our grasp," Newcombe said.

Game four was only slightly better, as UO rallied from a seven-point deficit to cut it to 21-20, but couldn't get any closer.

"For some reason it looked like we relaxed and that it made it difficult for us to ever come back," Maricic said.

Again, Oregon never led in the fifth game, but trailed just 11-10 before the Huskies ended on a 4-1 run for the win.

"You could see it right from the beginning of game three," Moore said. "When that happens, you just have to hope they can regroup, but they never got rid of it. We have to work on making sure that happens, that somebody steps up and gets everybody to focus. And it's got to come from the floor; it can't come from the sideline."

Oregon ended the match getting outhit .292-.168 and outblocked 30-14.

Stevie Mussie led the Huskies with 27 kills, while three-time all-American and 2006 Pac-10 player of the year Christal Morrison had 17 kills, 10 digs and five blocks.

Heather Meyers also had 15 kills for the Ducks and hit a match-best .357. Djordjevic added 42 assists.

UO returns to Mac Court tonight to face Washington State at 7.