Just like many years before it, the University of Oregon women’s volleyball team ended 2006 with a loss.
What made this one different, however, was its location: the NCAA tournament, a place the Ducks hadn’t played in almost two decades. While last season may have come as a surprise to many, second-year head coach Jim Moore realized success was possible from the beginning. This year’s goal: Prove it wasn’t a fluke.
“The thing that I originally said in my interview was that the most difficult sport to win in college athletics is football,” said Moore after a recent practice. “And if football can do it, then the resources are there for other programs to do it. I knew it could be done.”
By every account, Oregon’s 17-12 record overall (7-11 in Pacific-10 Conference play) in 2006 was a breakthrough season for the formerly languishing program, which finished in a tie for sixth in the conference. While their conference record might seem unremarkable, consider that the Ducks had won only three times in their previous 90 conference matches en route to five straight last-place finishes.
Besides winning more matches, the Ducks also drew more fans – 4,300 more in attendance than the previous year at home, a positive sign showing that volleyball can have a following. Of course, the surge in attendance was helped by the 10-0 start to the season. The homestretch of conference play, however, found the Ducks losing their last seven matches. Nonetheless, Oregon sneaked into the NCAA Tournament’s first round, where it lost to Hawaii. The team’s current eight-game losing streak has been a point of motivation since December.
“(The Hawaii match) didn’t go well at all,” said junior libero Katie Swoboda. “We’ve learned from that and we don’t ever want to feel that way again.”
For his effort in the turnaround, third-year head coach Jim Moore was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year, the first Oregon coach to do so. Now, with the 2007 season set to begin Aug. 24 at McArthur Court, Moore and Co. are anticipating another step in the right direction, even if the rest of the conference still has low expectations for the squad, as noted by the predicted seventh-place finish in the Pac-10 preseason poll.
“Well I think everybody is not expecting us to be really good,” said Moore. “I don’t know that I can put a better team on the floor.”
The returning team leaders are also eager to get on the floor after two weeks of thrice-daily practices.
“Fall camp actually went by fast this year. We’re ready but we’ve got a little nerves,” said Swoboda, who shattered Oregon’s single-season digs record (565), as well as bettering her own digs-per-game record (5.28) last season.
Besides Swoboda, the Ducks return four other starters in senior Karen Waddington and sophomores Neticia Enesi, Nevena Djordjevic and Sonja Newcombe.
Newcombe figures to be another rock along the net at middle blocker, having been named to the conference honorable mention and all-freshman teams a year ago. Enesi and setter Nevena Djordjevic were the Ducks’ other all-freshmen selections. To Moore, Newcombe is the lynch pin for another successful season.
“Sonja is a great player and she’s a phenomenal leader and so where this program is right now can be attributed to her,” Moore said. “She didn’t care that coming in we’d come in last for sixteen years, because we’re not going there.
“She’s what’s turned this program around, there’s no doubt about that.”
With five incoming freshmen as well as three players who will see the floor for the first time, the Ducks will rely on their depth, but be wary of their youth, to make a run at the top half of the conference.
“We can attack all over the net and that helps a lot. We don’t want one or two people who can put the ball on the floor, we have five or six,” said Moore.
Junior Gorana Maricic, who redshirted in 2006 after transferring from Division II Northwood University, is expected to fill the large offensive gap left by the transfer of Mira Djuric, whose booming serves will now be featured at Florida State University. Djuric ranked second in the conference last season in service aces with 44.
“That kid is as good as they come and she’s just plain good,” said Moore about the promising junior. “So if somebody wants to call it a breakout season, then maybe, since I don’t know of anybody who’s better offensively.”
When asked to clarify, Moore responded, “In the country.”
Despite the Ducks’ feel-good revival, the conference won’t be getting any easier this season. While Oregon received an encouraging three votes in the 2007 national preseason poll, five other conference teams were ranked in the top twelve spots. And of the seven Pac-10 participants in the 2006 Division I volleyball championships, Washington, UCLA and Stanford advanced to last season’s Final Four with the Cardinal eventually losing in the finals.
When asked about the conference strength, Moore was honest about the difficulty.
“Yes it’s difficult, yes the Pac-10 is as good as it comes but that’s life. We don’t get to change conferences because everybody’s good. We just have to play and see what happens.”
And if the Ducks play as well as Moore believes they can, another trip to the NCAA Tournament should be in the cards.
“If we do everything that we can and we’re not in the NCAA tournament then there are a whole lot of teams that are awfully good. If we’re not in the NCAA tournament then we didn’t do everything we can do to be successful.”
The Ducks will face Idaho State in the first match of the season at 7 p.m. on Aug. 24 at McArthur Court as part of the Oregon Kickoff Classic tournament. The tournament will last through the following day, when the Ducks will face Cal-State Bakersfield and Kansas. Start times for the Saturday matches are set for 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
Oregon seeks to continue turnaround under Moore
Daily Emerald
August 19, 2007
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