Last Call for Volleyball
When considering all the different elements at play, it’s safe to say this weekend’s home series against UCLA and USC is the biggest of the year. I know volleyball isn’t a huge deal on campus with the football team’s success these days, but if there was ever a time to pay attention to the volleyball team, it’s now.
With the Bruins on Friday and Trojans on Saturday, Oregon will play a pair of top-10 opponents who are among the best in the Pacific-10 conference. With only four games left in the regular season, it’s crunch time for Oregon — at 6-8 in the Pac, the Ducks would benefit from winning a few more games this year to better their NCAA tournament resumé. Oregon lost to both USC and UCLA earlier this season in Los Angeles but is certainly capable of beating either squad on any particular day.
This weekend also marks the last time Oregon senior Heather Meyers will wear a Duck uniform in Eugene. During the past four years, Meyers cemented her status as an Oregon volleyball legend. She’s ranked second in Oregon history in service aces and points, third in career hitting percentage and sixth in kills. She’s also one of the best jump-servers in NCAA history, and she’s fun to watch.
Saturday night against USC is the last time Oregon’s volleyball team will play a match at McArthur Court. Nobody seems to know for sure how many volleyball contests have been held at Mac, but that is a testament to itself. Either way, it’s the end of a volleyball era in Eugene. Will the Ducks make it a weekend to remember for their on-court performance as well?
“Oh, my knee!”
There hasn’t been much for Oregon football fans to get upset about this year, but in the Cal game, an issue that has plagued Oregon all year was brought to the national spotlight. Several Cal players faked injuries to slow down Oregon’s potent offense. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this; Stanford and Arizona State players also seemed to suffer mysterious ailments, only to magically recover one snap later. But as it stands now, those tactics are totally legal. Although the “Coaching Ethics” part of the rulebook does condemn the practice, there’s nothing an official can do to penalize a team that is faking injuries. The only consequence is that the “injured player” has to miss one play.
Like many people, my immediate reaction to seeing tape of the Cal fiasco was to hope the rulebook be amended to give refs discretion to penalize teams that fake injuries. But on second thought, do we really want to give the much-maligned Pac-10 refs that type of discretion? Cramps do happen in football, and it’s sometimes difficult to tell what’s real. So, I’d propose that if a player injury forces a stop in play, that player be forced to sit out for four snaps instead of one. It’s not an ideal solution, but neither is a team faking injuries. That might inspire coaches to put their second-string players into the game to feign an injury, but it would still be a deterrent.
But no matter what action (if any) the NCAA/Pac-10 takes on this subject, the best thing the Ducks can do is not let the fake injuries affect them. It’s already a sign of weakness that the opposition deems it necessary to resort to those bush league tactics to try to find a way to slow down the Oregon offense. Why further empower opposing defenses by getting agitated and upset? Oregon has a clear physical edge in most games it plays — the Ducks should do everything in their power to ensure they have the mental edge as well, and that includes staying level-headed in adverse situations.
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