The feeling this time is one of familiarity.
When the Oregon volleyball team made its first NCAA Tournament appearance last year since 1989, none of the Ducks had experienced postseason play before.
Seasoned and ready for a second consecutive go-around, Oregon has traveled to Manhattan, Kan., to play Missouri State today at 3:30 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner advances to play either Tulsa or Kansas State in the second round on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
“I think it goes along with the change of mentality of the program as a whole,” Sonja Newcombe said. “I think that this year – all the players – everyone expects to go further in the tournament, whereas last year it was like ‘no limitations, no expectations’ so it was like ‘Yeah’ each time we got to a new level. But we have definitely worked hard enough … be ready for this point in the season and so I think that changes the expectations.”
Missouri State, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, is 25-7 overall and is making it’s third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Melissa Stokes, who is familiar with the Pacific-10 Conference from her time coaching at San Diego State, says she’ll motivate her team by sharing how Missouri State upset a more physical Oregon State squad in 1997.
“I think you tell stories like that,” Stokes said. “We’re definitely the underdog. We’re not ranked in the top 25. I think you can say we have nothing to lose.”
Familiar territory
Coach Jim Moore sat on one sideline. His pregnant wife sat on the other.
Moore returned to Manhattan, Kan., for the first time wearing the burnt orange and white of Texas in 1997. His wife, Stacy Metro, had remained the coach at Kansas State, awaiting the birth of their first child and the hiring of a new coach.
The Texas volleyball team was visiting Kansas State for a spring tournament, part of an arrangement Moore set-up with Mick Haley when he was with the Longhorns.
Texas played Kansas State and split two games. During the match, then Nebraska coach Terry Pettit sat next to Moore and kidded him.
“I think that was good for both of us to have the split happen because if one or the other would have won we would still be talking about it to this day,” Metro said.
Watching from afar
Cathy Nelson keeps tabs on the Oregon volleyball team.
The ESPN analyst, who spent nine years coaching at Oregon, lives in Eugene and was the last coach to see the Ducks make the NCAA Tournament until Jim Moore led them there last year. Nelson was an assistant coach under Gerry Gregory when the Ducks clinched a berth in 1989.
Fox carries volleyball matches from the Pacific-10 Conference, so she spends much of her busy travel schedule covering Big Ten and Big 12 volleyball, even Patriot League – all new and interesting for the longtime follower of Pac-10 volleyball.
She provided commentary for the NCAA Selection Show and says she likes Oregon’s bracket.
“I would not be surprised at all if Oregon wins two in Kansas and beats Kansas State and moves onto the Sweet 16,” she said. “I think they can definitely do that. Some of their wins this year have shown what they can do when they play well.”
Moore discovered a successful formula with the international talents of Gorana Maricic and California native Newcombe.
“Jim’s been smart,” Nelson said of the Oregon volleyball coach. “He’s gone foreign and gotten some good international players,” Nelson said. “That’s a pretty common tact to take.”
Nelson sees the signs pointing toward a Stanford-Nebraska rematch for the national championship, this time away from Nebraska’s comfort zone of Omaha, Neb., and in Sacramento, Calif., instead. Oregon, unless they really start rolling, is a little ways away from breaking the top four, she said.
“They’re close. I think when I look at the top teams – I look at the top four seeds,” Nelson said. “I think they are the four most physically dominant in the country. They are big everywhere. They have great size and athleticism. They have all the pieces. Oregon isn’t quite there.”
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