In the second week of Pacific-10 Conference play, the No. 11 Oregon Ducks (11-3 overall, 0-2 Pacific-10 Conference) host a pair of top 5 teams this weekend with No. 5 UCLA (10-2, 0-1) in town tonight and No. 4 USC (8-2, 1-0) on Saturday night. Both matches start at 7 p.m. at McArthur Court.
The last time UCLA and USC were in Eugene, Oregon swept them. It was the first time in school history the Ducks had two consecutive wins over top 10 opponents. Oregon looks to repeat this year, and the players are ready.
Libero Katie Swoboda said the players are excited for the challenge the teams represent. “Any time you get to play at Mac Court in front of the home fans it’s exciting,” she said. “We didn’t play as well last weekend on the road, so it’s a
matter of learning from that and moving on to
the next match.”
Head coach Jim Moore agrees. He said the lesson is to
forget last weekend because it doesn’t matter, that you have to move on and prepare for the next weekend. He’s preached it to his players every day, and they believe it. Even the enticing story of a rematch between them and UCLA is lessened by Oregon’s approach. No one is thinking about last year’s loss to the Bruins in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, or how a win tomorrow would somehow erase that last defeat.
Volleyball Home OpenerNo. 5 UCLA, tonight, Oct. 3 at McArthur Court, 7 p.m. No. 4 USC, Saturday, Oct. 4 at McArthur Court, 7 p.m. |
“It’s all about preparing,” Moore said. “That’s all it is in the Pac-10. I haven’t said one word to the players about what’s already happened. We have to focus on what we can do to win this weekend.”
First up is UCLA. Led by setter
Nellie Spicer, the Bruins bring a
hardened defensive game. Spicer, who recorded 42 assists, nine digs and six blocks in their loss to USC last week, is considered by many to be the best setter in the nation. Coach Moore is part of that group, and he has enormous respect for her skills.
“Without question, UCLA has the best setter in the nation in Spicer,” he said. “She is very deceptive in her moves. That means we have to be very disciplined and not fall for all the fakes and jukes. You react to the ball once it’s set and hit.”
Swoboda added that the Bruins work extremely hard. “UCLA is known to be scrappy,” she says. “They always play good defense and it’ll be a challenge for us because they don’t make many mistakes.”
If tonight’s match up poses problems, tomorrow’s against USC poses just as many, if not more. The Trojans have been to the Final Four four times in the past six years. They beat UCLA 3-2 on Sept. 26, and their offensive style of play is a problem for a lot of teams.
“They beat you up,” Moore said. “One fear a lot of players have in volleyball is standing on the other side of the net and letting people hit at you. They have some big hitters.”
USC has one of the best hitters in the Pac-10:
freshman Alex Jupiter. Her 3.91 average kills per set ranks third in the conference, just ahead of Oregon’s Gorana Maricic at 3.72. Jupiter is also third in the conference in total points
with 4.63.
But focusing on the opponent isn’t Oregon’s style. Yes, the Ducks watch tape and put together a scout team, but outside of normal preparation, they tend to worry about only what they can control: themselves.
Sophomore Heather Meyers says the hype around this weekend hasn’t really been discussed. The team is just ready to play at home.
“We just have to move on and do our part. We need to play our game and focus more on ourselves right now. That means being pumped up and wanting to be there to play,” she said.
In other words, it entails playing better defense,
working harder, being disciplined against the setters and not
panicking if they fall behind early. Coach Moore has the team in the right mind set, and although they don’t talk about the past, they sure would like to see history repeat itself with another L.A. school sweep in Eugene.
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