The last time the Oregon volleyball team played Stanford and California, the Ducks were swept six sets to none. That was the first weekend of the Pacific-10 Conference schedule, way back on Sept. 26 and 27.
Flash ahead two months to the last week of the regular season, and the No. 8 Ducks (22-7 overall, 10-6 Pac-10) are again playing No. 2 Stanford (24-3, 15-1) and No. 7 Cal (22-5, 12-4). This time the two matches are at home, and unlike that first time, Oregon is ready for the two top 10 teams.
“It’s going to be a really big challenge,” senior Gorana Maricic said. “(Stanford and Cal) are both good teams, and it’s more about us focusing on passing and running different plays. We need to worry about our side of the net, but we are definitely ready for them.”
Head coach Jim Moore worried going into the road trip to the Bay Area in September that his team wouldn’t be ready for Pac-10 teams. He said that the difference between non-conference and the “Conference of Champions” is a huge jump, and it takes a few matches to adjust to the heightened play. And although the players aren’t making any excuses for why they lost to Cal by scores of 25-20, 25-15 and 25-15, their coach said his team was caught off guard.
Oregon did better the following night against Stanford, but the two losses that weekend set the stage for a dramatic sweep of UCLA and USC the next weekend. Senior Katie Swoboda thinks the team is in a better place than it was in the first few weeks, that it’s ready for the games and preparing for what lies ahead.
“Everyone is on top of their games right now,” Swoboda said. “Since the first week of the season we’ve become more consistent.”
The Ducks are preparing to face defending National Player of the Year Foluke Akinradewo of Stanford tonight, who is one of three Cardinal women who are averaging more than three kills a set. Cal follows on Friday, after a turkey break Thursday.
Cal is coming off impressive wins against UCLA and USC in Berkeley, and it is the only team that has beaten the Cardinal in conference.
“It’s always fun when we play these two teams, and we’ll just have to make sure we are ready,” Swoboda said.
The two remaining matches of the regular season will be special for this year’s senior class. Swoboda, Kristen Forristall, Maricic and Marija Milosevic will all say goodbye to the friendly confines of McArthur Court, where the Ducks are 12-1.
Swoboda was the first recruit Moore got when he arrived in Eugene after the 2004 season, and he attributes his success in part to the defensive specialist. She’s second on the all-time Pac-10 digs list with 2,100; her acrobatic dives have sent cheers echoing throughout Mac Court.
“It’s bittersweet,” Swoboda said. “I love it here. Mac Court is amazing and we have the greatest fans ever. It’ll be sad, but we have to focus on the game, too.”
Forristall sees the end of her run as something to look forward to, not something to get sad about.
“I’m excited to be done,” Forristall said. “When I’m finished I’ll know I’ve left everything out there, and I’ll be able to hold my head up high.”
After two years of playing basketball for coach Bev Smith and the women’s basketball team, Forristall made the switch to the volleyball court after her sophomore season and redshirted before starting in 26 matches last year. This season she has continued to help out the Ducks, averaging 2 kills and 1 block per set.
Milosevic, who transferred from South Carolina, has seen time in most of Oregon’s matches this year, but with a starting rotation pretty much set in stone, she started only four matches. Those starts came when she was filling in for injured junior Sonja Newcombe, who suffered a knee sprain that kept her out of a few matches earlier in the season.
Then there is Maricic. The two-time All-American transferred to Oregon from Division II Northwood University in Michigan and after redshirting in 2006, she led the Pac-10 in kills per set and broke the school record for points with 679.5 in 2007. This year her kills are down to 4.17 a set, but she is still an integral part of this Duck squad.
“Yes, it is Senior Night, but like Katie said, no emotions,” Maricic said. “It’s all business and we have to keep on going strong. We aren’t done yet.”
The sentimentalism of Senior Night clearly isn’t distracting for this group of Ducks. These aren’t the last games of their careers, those will come in the following weeks in the NCAA Tournament. Right now, they’re just focused on preparing as much as possible for the postseason – and two wins wouldn’t hurt either, they say.
“Obviously we want to finish Pac-10 strong,” Swoboda said. “But it’s getting to that time of the year where we need to prepare ourselves mentally and physically.”
Both matches start at 7 p.m. Also of note, the NCAA Tournament selection is this Sunday. Go to dailyemerald.com for complete coverage to find out where the Ducks go, and check out Press Pass, the Emerald sports blog.
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