For the first time all season, the Oregon volleyball team is playing down at the .500 level.
The Ducks will attempt to get out of the funk that has led them to lose their last seven games in a row when they travel to Pocatello, Idaho, on Sunday for a 2 p.m. match against Idaho State at Reed Gym.
The contest features two squads that have yet to make their mark this season. The Bengals (6-9 overall, 2-4 Big Sky Conference) have lost two of their last four matches. After ending the non-conference season with an impressive win against Oklahoma, Idaho State has slipped in conference play.
Oregon (8-8, 0-7 Pacific-10 Conference) is virtually in the same position as Idaho State. After beginning the year 8-1 in non-conference play, the Ducks have been dominated in Pac-10 play. They’ve lost all seven matches, including a tough one Wednesday to in-state rival Oregon State. This is the first non-conference match for the Ducks since Sept. 8, when they beat Boise State in four games.
“I feel that this will be like our breakthrough game,” junior Stephanie Martin said. “If we play like we did in our second game (against Oregon State), we could just come out and dominate (Idaho State). We don’t know how they play, and we haven’t seen anything on them. But I think we should start out early, put pressure on them and hopefully dominate the game.”
“Any match is a big match,” junior Lindsay Closs said. “We need to beat Idaho State. But it’ll be nice to get another game in.”
Martin and Closs have looked sharp in recent matches against Stanford, Cal and Oregon State. Martin has led the Ducks in kills in each match, recording a career high 15 Wednesday night in Corvallis. They again will be key to the Ducks’ success.
“They set up the offense,” head coach Carl Ferreira said. “The better they do, the more it opens up the outside game. We’ve got to get a couple of more positive performances out of some other key people, but we’re close. We’ve got to maintain a great perspective and just keep at it.”
Idaho State has never beaten the Ducks, having played them in 1983, 1988 and 1997.

Martin returns for a

homecoming
Sunday’s match in Pocatello will represent somewhat of a homecoming for Martin. After starring at Westwood High School in Mesa, Ariz., Martin came to the College of Southern Idaho to play two years of junior college ball.
After posting 477 kills, 337 digs and hitting for a .385 percentage, she was highly recruited, and finally settled on Oregon.
“In a way (it’ll be a homecoming) because my friends from junior college are going to drive down,” she said. “They’re going to come and see me play. I’m really excited.”