The year was 1989.
Gerry Gregory was the head coach of the Ducks, and after six Pacific-10 Conference matches, his team was 3-3. In came vaunted Stanford, and at the time, Oregon had beaten the Cardinal only once, in 1986.
In five games, the Ducks upset the mighty Stanford women (3-15, 15-9, 9-15, 15-3, 15-8) on their way to a successful 10-6 season. Oregon also qualified for the NCAA Tournament that year, but lost to Arizona in their first match.
It was a season of lasts for the Oregon women. It was the last time the Ducks qualified for the NCAA Tournament, the last time they had a winning record in Pac-10 play, and more importantly today, the last time they beat Stanford.
The Ducks have this in mind when they travel to Maples Pavilion to take on the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto, Calif., tonight at 7 p.m. The Bay Area squad is 9-1 overall this year, losing only to Long Beach State last week in a hard-fought match. More importantly, the team is 3-0 in Pac-10 play, good enough for first place in the early conference season.
But ask the Ducks whether they care, and you’ll get a resounding “No!”
“When I go out there, I don’t care what their jersey says,” senior Monique Tobbagi said. “I don’t care who they are, I don’t care what they’re ranked. They’re just another opponent on the other side of the net I’m looking to get a win off of.”
In fact, most of the Ducks didn’t even have it on their mind after their match against Washington State last Saturday.
“I haven’t even thought that far,” junior Lindsay Closs said.
Head coach Carl Ferreira has taken the Ducks, a perennial cellar dweller in conference play, to new heights this season. While the team is 0-4 in conference play, it is not truly indicative of the potential the squad possesses.
But the Ducks still have a way to go before they can compete at the level of the Stanfords and Arizonas.
“The thing that I told the team is I haven’t been 100 percent satisfied with how they’ve competed,” Ferreira said. “Now whether it’s an offensive or defensive unit, we need a competitive group that’s going to give us a chance to be successful.”
Being successful against Stanford is a tough task, though. Led by junior outside hitter Logan Tom, a former Olympian, the Stanford offense is strong and potent, and a very tough group to shake.
Tom, who leads the Pac-10 in digs (3.62 dpg), is also joined by freshman outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani. Disrupt these two players and a team may have a chance, but that’s a tough thing to do.
“[Stanford] has arguably one of the best volleyball players in the collegiate level and in the world in Logan Tom,” Ferreira said. “She’s a gifted phenom that comes along once in a while. And they’ve got a freshman that’s a young and up-and-coming phenom named Ogonna Nnamani.”
Like Tobbagi, Ferreira doesn’t distinguish his team’s preparation against teams like Stanford and the rest of the conference, although he does understand the importance of looking strong against such a gifted opponent.
He cited five players as being important in the Oregon attack against Stanford. Junior Sydney Chute, sophomores Heather Gilmore, Lindsay Murphy, and Erika Widmark, and freshman Katie O’Neil will need to play strong in order for the Ducks to succeed against the Cardinal.
“Those five kids competitively have to give us the stability to be able to do the things we’re doing,” the second-year head coach said. “The big offensive power comes from [Stephanie] Martin, Closs and Tobbagi. I’m hoping these five kids can give us a kind of rhythm.”