Everybody within the Oregon volleyball team realized what was coming.
All they needed was confirmation.
No. 13 Oregon officially found out Sunday evening that the Ducks had made the NCAA Tournament and will head to Manhattan, Kan., to play Missouri State (25-7) at 3:30 p.m. in the first round on Friday. Should the Ducks advance, they’ll play the winner of Kansas State (22-8) and Tulsa (27-8) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
“We knew we were in this year and last year it was a big question mark whether or not we were in,” coach Jim Moore said. “It makes it a different feel and now we just have to take care of business.”
Oregon, with a 20-10 overall record and 9-9 finish in Pacific-10 Conference play, had solidified its berth. The Ducks completed their final road trip of the regular season last weekend. Oregon swept Washington State in its trip to Pullman, Wash., and fell in four games on Friday to Washington.
If anything, Oregon had to wait a little longer this season to learn its postseason fate, after Moore found out about Oregon’s NCAA berth in the morning last season on the team’s plane ride back from Los Angeles.
Karen Waddington, who had her parents in town, nevertheless spent her afternoon waiting for the selection show and got ready early.
“It’s very exciting,” Waddington said. “I guess we were kind of expecting it, but it is exciting to see us in there.”
Oregon held an organized gathering Sunday in the Stadium Club at Autzen Stadium and watched the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on ESPNU. Team members gathered near the center of the room and cheered when Oregon appeared across the television screen.
The real question was where Oregon would play with coaches and players quietly hoping the Ducks would host the first two rounds in Eugene. Oregon will instead travel to Manhattan, Kan., for its first round match on Friday.
“We would have loved to host,” Sonja Newcombe said. “Of course, that’s always a school’s big thing. We would have loved to do that here in Eugene, but I think we’ve got traveling down.”
“I thought they would send us someplace close, but that’s OK,” Moore said.
Moore is returning to a familiar area having coached at Kansas State from 1994 to 1996. His oldest son, Matthew, was born there. Moore compiled a record of 61-34 in three years there and made two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Another Oregon team will also be in Manhattan this week with the men’s basketball team playing Kansas State Thursday night.
Oregon earned its first NCAA Tournament bid under Moore last fall following a 17-11 finish and 7-11 mark in Pac-10 play. Oregon traveled to Long Beach, Calif., for a first round meeting with No. 12 Hawaii and subsequently exited the tournament after a three-game sweep.
“I think it helps tremendously,” Moore said of the experience. “To sit here now and to be relaxed about what’s going on rather than to be paranoid about what’s going on.”
Oregon also enters the postseason on the upswing with four wins in the last five matches compared to last season when the Ducks ended the regular season on a seven match losing streak.
“Our confidence is a little bit higher,” Katie Swoboda said. “We’re a little bit more experienced. We don’t want to experience what we experienced last year so we definitely want to come out with a little more oomph as a team.”
The Ducks are making consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since they went two consecutive years in 1986 and 1987 under coach Gerry Gregory.
[email protected]