It’s the beginning of the end for the Oregon volleyball team.
Tonight’s match in Los Angeles against UCLA will be the 15th Pacific-10 Conference match for the Ducks, but more importantly, it is the last weekend of Pac-10 play for the team.
It is not, however, the last matches Oregon (9-17 overall, 0-14 Pacific-10 Conference) will play this season, with USC and UCLA visiting McArthur Court next week.
This weekend puts into motion the beginning of the end for the Ducks and magnifies their need to win a Pac-10 match, something that has slipped out of their hands so far.
“It’s tough,” senior Monique Tobbagi said. “When I came here as a freshman, we knocked off the No. 16 (Arizona) team in the nation. UCLA and USC are both ranked teams and any given day, it can happen. We’re going to go in there tough and hopefully capture a win before the season ends.”
Tobbagi is referring to No. 12 UCLA, a team the Ducks will take on for the first time this season at Pauley Pavilion tonight. The Bruins are tied for fourth in the Pac-10 with a 9-5 (15-7 overall) record in conference play.
“UCLA, you really know who their primary people are and who is going to get the ball,” head coach Carl Ferreira said.
For the Ducks to be successful, the “big three” of Tobbagi and juniors Lindsay Closs and Stephanie Martin will need to lead the offensive attack, but the team’s role players, such as sophomore Heather Gilmore and freshman Lauren Westendorf, will need to play well.
“We need our primary people getting attack kills to score points, but we also need our role players to get attack kills and score points,” Ferreira said. “It’s how many points you can score, that’s the bottom line.”
Ferreira cited the importance of minimizing unforced errors, creating defensive blocks as well as improving the team’s serving as keys to the match against the Bruins.
With four matches left, the Ducks have little time to gain their first Pac-10 win, but spirits are high. The team played an impromptu scrimmage at practice earlier this week, with Ferreira and assistants Jared Sliger and Anna Reznicek taking the court.
“Together, as a collective group, we all have a good attitude,” Tobbagi said. “You can’t really dwell on the past because you can’t change it, so you can only look forward.”
Added Closs about the team’s winless situation: “We just use it as motivation to keep working hard.”
First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
Hank Hager is a sports reporter for the
Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached
at [email protected].