Oregon avoided a first-game loss en route to a three-game sweep of visiting Washington State Thursday night at McArthur Court. The win improves Oregon’s record to 17-4, 7-4 in the Pacific-10 Conference, and sets them up for an 8 p.m. meeting with Pac-10 power Washington tonight. Try as the Oregon volleyball team could, it’s hard to ignore that the No. 4 team in the nation is coming to Eugene on Friday.
“We’ve been wanting to learn how to play in the (NCAA) tournament and you got to know when you have to go for it and when you don’t,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said. “I don’t want to say we were looking through (Washington State), but I kept talking about Washington and I was pretty sure we came out flat.”
Said outside hitter Erin Little: “It’s very hard not to look somewhat past (Thursday), no matter who it was.”
Oregon appeared apprehensive in game 1 and the Cougars, last in the Pac-10, took advantage as neither team led by more than two points. Mira Djuric slammed a kill off Washington State’s Kelly Hyder to tie the score at 29. After trading points, Oregon clinched the game, 34-32, on a Karen Waddington kill and Sonja Newcombe block.
The Ducks made games 2 and 3 look easy in comparison.
“(Moore) sat us down in a timeout and was like, ‘Breathe, take a deep breath everyone. Stop looking so nervous out there,’” Newcombe said.
Oregon started game 2 on a 6-1 run. Even though Washington State pulled within 6-5, Oregon answered with an 18-4 run. Nine of the points came consecutively with Little serving.
“When you don’t come out with a lot of energy, you feel pressure and you get wound up and you’re all tight and it just makes it hard,” Moore said. “Once you relax, then you can just play.”
The Ducks’ game 3 mirrored game 2. Newcombe smoothly ended the match with a kill. Washington State behind them, Oregon can now focus on Washington.
“We’re ready,” Newcombe said. “We’ve been preparing and we’re excited.”
Just how ready Oregon is will be decided quickly. Washington possesses a powerful attack led by outside hitter Christal Morrison, who averages 4.78 kills a game and has 27 service aces as of Oct. 27. Stevie Mussie redshirted last season after undergoing knee surgery. She’s boosted Washington’s attack with 3.83 kills per game.
Oregon moved into the Top 25 for the first since 1991 Monday and already is matched up against another ranked opponent, a common occurrence in the Pac-10 as six schools are ranked. Oregon took game 1 against Washington in Seattle on Oct. 6.
“Obviously, if we win it’s huge,” Moore said. “Are we expected to beat the No. 4 team in the country? Not a chance in the world, but we feel we can compete with them.”
Moore paused during the postgame interview Thursday, recollecting what Oregon’s already done this season and what’s to come with a possible NCAA Tournament berth looming.
“If it’s not the best, this is the second-best team I’ve ever coached and it is also maybe the most fun group of people I’ve ever been around,” Moore said.
His No. 1 team is indelibly linked to his 1993 Northern Michigan University squad that won the NCAA National Championship. Maybe Oregon isn’t as physically gifted as that team, but he says they find a way to win.
“That was an unbelievable team,” Moore said. “This one is real close.”
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