Senior Gorana Maricic has one final thing to do before she leaves Oregon: beat the Washington Huskies. In her three years at Oregon (one as a redshirt), the Ducks have gone 0-6 against Washington, part of a larger 15-game losing streak since 2001.
“I think we’re a tough matchup for them,” Maricic said. “And I’m not leaving until we beat them.”
Fellow senior Katie Swoboda agrees, saying that although the team doesn’t look forward to any specific match, the Ducks knew that the next time the two teams played in Eugene, it would be a different story.
“I love playing (the Huskies); they’re a great team,” Swoboda said. “They’re one of the few teams I haven’t beaten since I’ve been here. Every year it’s been a great match, and I’m just glad that we’re back at Mac Court.”
This weekend’s matches against Washington State tonight (7-17 overall, 0-13 Pacific-10 Conference) at 6 p.m. and the No. 5 Huskies (19-4, 10-3) Sunday at 12:30 p.m. will go a long way in telling head coach Jim Moore whether his veteran team is ready for the NCAA tournament. Two wins would put the No. 8 Ducks (20-5, 8-4) at 10-4 in conference and – barring Oregon State beating Washington tonight – would place Oregon in a tie with Washington for third place. Then, if the team wins the rest of its matches, two at the Arizona schools followed by a season finale at McArthur Court with Stanford and California, Oregon could end up in second place behind the 12-1 Cardinal.
However, that’s a long way down the road and the Ducks must first take care of business against the Cougars.
The Ducks beat them in Pullman on Oct. 19 in three sets, led by junior Neticia Enesi’s 12 kills. They hope to do much of the same this time around against the conference-winless Cougars, and they are making certain a big upset won’t happen.
“Everybody in the Pac-10 is mentally tough,” Swoboda said. “They’re all good teams and no one will give it to you from the bottom to the top. Each game is important, and Washington State and Washington are both important games. We just need to focus on the basics.”
That focus, Swoboda said, means defense.
“We want our defense to get better. We have a ton of weapons offensively and Nevena (Djordjevic) has been doing great setting, but we need to start digging balls. That will get us where we want to be,” Swoboda said.
Against the Huskies, the focus on defense will help the Ducks deal with Washington’s multi-faceted attack. Led by returning All-American Jessica Swarbrick, the Huskies can hurt a team from any position on the court, and that, Maricic said, is what sets them apart.
“Washington is a team that really works hard. They don’t have anyone who stands out, and we just need to outwork them,” Maricic said. “We need to stay consistent throughout the entire match.”
Maricic’s assessment leads the team back to what coach Moore has preached all season long: Control only what you can control, and let the other stuff go.
“As we finish the season, we just want to be consistent and be tough,” Maricic said. “We’ve really been focusing on being a tough team and pushing through things. Just taking everything one point at a time.
“We should just focus on our stuff and not worry about (Washington).”
What Maricic and Swoboda agree on is that a little bit of home cooking might be the only thing they need. The Ducks of late have won two of three on the road, but the friendly confines of McArthur Court seem to give the team an extra edge. And with the athletic department making the announcement that two non-perishable food items will gain spectators free entrance to the match, the Ducks hope to have a record crowd on hand.
“I think we’re excited to be back at home,” Swoboda said. “We’ve had a few on the road, and it’s just nice to play at Mac Court. The fans are the greatest.”
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