McArthur Court has seen better days.
A combined 1,304 Oregon volleyball fans watched with little excitement on Friday and Saturday as the Ducks were swept by both Arizona State and Arizona.
Oregon is now 0-7 in Pacific-10 Conference and 7-8 overall.
“It’s going to take a lot to discourage me,” head coach Carl Ferreira said. “I don’t mind the things we’re doing.”
Yet, in the standings, the Ducks aren’t satisfied either.
“Nobody feels good about what’s transpired in conference play,” the first-year Oregon coach said. “Am I happy to be 0-7? No, it stinks. But we will win and our players are competitively pissed off that we haven’t.”
In the second match of the weekend, No. 7 Arizona (7-0, 14-1) proved its dominance with the 15-6, 15-5, 15-10 win, which was the Wildcats’ 14th consecutive victory. Despite being swept for the fourth consecutive match on Saturday, the Ducks played with much more flair than they did the previous night.
Junior outside hitter Monique Tobbagi’s 12 kills and .421 attack percentage led the Ducks. Sophomore setter Sydney Chute finished the match with 32 assists, a .417 attack percentage and was the only Oregon starter who did not commit an error.
“The level at which we competed [against Arizona] — we cannot go below that,” Tobbagi said. “We cannot slide any more.”
To put it bluntly, Friday’s match against the Sun Devils (12-5, 4-3) was frustrating and altogether embarrassing for an Oregon team that knows it can compete with more intensity.

“We missed out on some opportunities to win, especially against Arizona State,” Tobbagi said. “We came out flat and didn’t compete to our ability. In this conference, you can’t do that.”
For Tobbagi, it was a night to forget. While committing 10 errors and tallying just five kills, the Ducks’ best attacker was held to a minus .167 hitting percentage.
“It has been tough,” said Tobbagi, who had four of the team’s eight service errors against the Sun Devils. “They are using me as a target and trying to get me frustrated.”
“They are wearing her down in the passing game and her attacking game is affected,” Ferreira said of Tobbagi’s struggles against ASU.
As a team, Oregon hit just .087 percent from the floor on Friday. Seniors Amy Banducci and Halie Mazza, normally two of the most reliable competitors on the squad, tallied a combined seven kills and hit .100 and .167, respectively.
“It was an ugly match,” Ferreira said. “For the first time this year our core chemistry struggled. All four [of the upperclassmen] had a bad night. And how they go, we go.”
The weekend also featured several shifts in Oregon’s lineup. Coming off of a career match against ASU, freshman Alisha Stevens replaced junior setter Julie Gerlach in the Ducks’ starting lineup Saturday. The move marked the first time that Oregon went away from its two-setter offensive system.
“Julie’s been struggling,” Ferreira said. “Her set to kill ratio hasn’t been effective. She’s been under a lot of pressure lately.”
In the last two weekend series, Ferreira said his team has done a good job of preparing for the second game, but has not come out in the opening game with enough intensity.
“Two of our last four games have been sluggish, and that’s not what you want to see at the mid-point of the season,” said Ferreira, also referring to his team’s 3-0 loss at UCLA Sept. 29.