With the end in sight, the No. 8 Oregon volleyball team has one word in mind to describe its mental state: focused.
The Ducks (21-6 overall, 9-5 Pacific-10 Conference) are four matches from the end of the regular season, and it means sharpening up things that have plagued them all year in time for the NCAA Tournament.
“We really need to work on listening,” senior Kristen Forristall said. “It can’t be the coaches calling everything. It’s got to be us. We have to be the ones encouraging each other and we have to be tough on defense.”
Forristall’s assessment of needing to shore up the defensive front is something the whole team can agree upon. Their statistics might not reflect it (Oregon is averaging 2.1 more digs per game than their opponents are) but the Ducks need more consistent effort.
“Basketball has a saying, ‘offense wins games, defense wins championships,’” Forristall said. “There’s no doubt that we are an offensive team, but we have to get into a mindset that we also need to be a defensive team.”
Head coach Jim Moore said after last weekend’s loss to Washington that he will probably never be satisfied with how his team plays defensively, but there are lessons the team can learn from the tough way it lost.
“We can take a lot of positives – if we are willing to do that,” he said. “I’ve had coaches tell me that when we are focused and in-system we are the best in the country. But when we are not focused, we are mediocre at best. “
The four-set loss to Washington on Sunday had the potential to be a devastating setback for this team, but they seem to have put that behind them.
“The tough thing about losses is that they are great chances to learn,” Forristall said. “You can’t just sit there and think about the loss, you have to learn from it and move on and not let it affect you after that. We’re getting to a point in the season where it’s a sprint to the end.”
That sprint is a stretch starting tonight in Arizona that features four games in the next week. Because of the short week due to Thanksgiving, after this weekend’s games with Arizona and Arizona State on Friday and Saturday, the Ducks play Stanford on Wednesday then California next Friday.
“It’s going to be a big week for us,” Moore said. “Arizona believes they can beat everyone at home, and they are sort of proving that. They are above .500 against the conference at home. I don’t think they like us very much, so we are just going to have to be focused and take care of business. Then we have to be smart and not let anything fall off against Arizona State.”
The Ducks swept the Wildcats (14-12, 4-10) and the Sun Devils (12-15, 3-11) when they were in Eugene on October 24 and 25, but the road is still a place where Oregon must prove they can win consistently in a hostile environment. The Ducks are still below .500 on the road, and as Moore said, Arizona is a very good team at home. It is 4-3 against conference opponents in Tucson, and it’s knocked off USC and Cal.
But the end of the season brings a few other things that teams deal with besides making sure they are playing their best in time for the playoffs. Seniors are looking forward to graduation and coaches are finding the players to replace those leaving.
Forristall said she realized just a week ago that her tenure with Oregon volleyball is almost over. “I’m excited that we are going to be done,” she said. “Some people are sad, but I’m excited to walk away and know I’ve left everything out there. It’s great.”
The replacements for the seniors, recruits Katherine Fischer, Lauren Gross and Jocelyn Levig, are all big time players, Moore says.
“Fischer is a Heather Meyers, quicker and faster. That kid flies,” Moore said. “Levig has a big swing and is a huge offensive force, and Gross hits an incredibly heavy ball. I’m excited about all three of the kids because they are going to have a huge impact.”
Talking about the incoming freshmen was one of the rare moments Moore has looked past his upcoming schedule to next year, but don’t expect him to take too much time to dwell on that right now. His team is guaranteed at least a .500 record in conference, but he wants Oregon to win all four games and go into the tournament playing its best volleyball of the season.
“It’s a focus thing,” he said. “You just have to make the play that is right in front of you.”
Oregon plays Arizona tonight at 6 p.m., followed by Arizona State on Saturday night at 6 p.m.
[email protected]