I’ll say it now: 2006-2007 was one of the best seasons for women’s sports at Oregon in recent history.
At many times this year, it seemed as if the Lady Ducks (someone needs to come up with a better way to refer to the women’s teams… it’s not like we call the men’s teams the ‘Gentlemen’ Ducks right?) pretty much walked on water and could do no wrong.
The soccer team finished the year 12-6-2 overall, beat the No. 3 team in the country, ended the season winning eight out of 10 games, and then reeled from the shock and injustice of not being selected for the national tournament.
But snub aside, Tara Erickson’s Ducks had the best season in program history and finished the year second in the Pacific-10 Conference and ranked No. 17 in the Soccer America rankings. Erickson garnered Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors, and senior striker Nicole Garbin was named Pac-10 Player of the year.
The volleyball team’s 2006 campaign unfolded in similar fashion – the only difference being that it actually made it to the national tournament.
Like Erickson, Jim Moore found success in his second season as head coach, leading the volleyball team to a 17-11 overall record, and sixth-place in the Pac-10 – which doesn’t sound all that ridiculously impressive until you consider that before last season, the volleyball team had not ventured above the .500 mark in 16 years.
Moore also brought the volleyball team back to the national tournament for the first time since 1989.
Then we have the women’s basketball team. The Ducks finished the year sixth in the Pac-10, with a 16-13 record, and earned a bid to the WNIT Tournament. Oregon made it to the third round before losing to eventual champions Wyoming 64-62.
A WNIT bid is by no means as impressive as a national tournament bid, but for Bev Smith’s team, it meant a return to postseason play, something Oregon had not done since 2005.
The spring sunshine also brought with it good tidings for the Oregon softball program.
The Ducks began the season with an 18-game winning streak – its best start in school history, and the best start the team has had since 2004.
The Ducks (40-16 overall) rose to 10th in the national rankings by early April, and will find out this Sunday if they get to return to the national tournament. Oregon made the tournament in 2005 but missed out last year after ending the season with a dismal 24-29 record.
Then, there’s also the tennis team, as Oregon coach Paul Reber has led the Ducks to the national tournament in his first year at the helm. Oregon finished the year ranked 41st nationally despite having only six players on the roster for most of the season.
In only its third year of existence, the Oregon lacrosse team broke into the national rankings at No. 20 for the first time in program history, finished 11-6 overall and went to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament as the No. 2 seed. Next year, head coach Jen Larsen’s pioneer class of recruits will all be seniors, and you can bet that they’re gonna be ready to do some damage before they bow out for good.
We saw history being made this year, and this is the year that future Ducks will look back on and refer to as the turning point that put many of the perpetual minnows on the road to success.
So mark my words: Legitimization and/or revenge is going to be the name of the game for all the women’s teams next year. And maybe people will finally sit up and take notice of the non-revenue-generating Oregon sports that are starting to work up a buzz on the national sports scene.
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