When Oregon and Oregon State met in the first Civil War rivalry match in mid-October, it was more one-sided destruction than an equal fight. The No. 23 Ducks defeated Oregon State in three quick sets, 25-15, 25-12, 25-16.
But Oregon (17-8, 5-8 Pacific-10 Conference) isn’t expecting such an easy go of it this time around. When the Ducks battle the Beavers in Corvallis Friday night, they’ll likely be in for a tougher test.
“It will be way more of a challenge than (it was) at home,” freshman middle blocker Ariana Williams said.
Essentially, the match is like a playoff game for Beavers (8-19, 1-12 Pac-10). With any realistic hopes at making the postseason long gone, Oregon State will look to play the role of spoiler.
“They have nothing to lose and we have everything to lose, and they’re going to play as hard as they possibly can,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said.” They’re a physically gifted team that has struggled obviously at times, but they’re are capable of beating a loft of people and they’ve been very competitive lately.”
Indeed, the Ducks have plenty at stake. A win would up Oregon’s Pac-10 record to 6-8 and put the Ducks in prime position to earn an NCAA tournament berth with only four games left to play. A loss would do plenty of damage to Oregon’s postseason chances.
“It’s a must-win,” Oregon libero Haley Jacob said. “We have to go in there really focused because they’re goal is probably to knock us out because they’re not going to be in the tournament.”
And despite their poor record, the Beavers, like every Pac-10 team, have talent.
“They went five (sets against Arizona) and took a game off (No. 10 UCLA),” Moore said. “They’re incredibly scary and we have to be prepared.”
Starting each match with the proper mind-set has been a challenge for the Ducks this season. At times, Oregon has been focused and prepared — as evidenced by a four-set victory over Washington and the three-set Civil War victory earlier this year. But they’ve also come out flat on a handful of occasions.
“That’s what our goal is, to make sure we have the energy level and the focus,” Moore said. “It’s the discipline and focus that we need going into the match is what’s crucial. We have to come ready to play, we have no option now.”
Further, Moore hopes his players don’t assume they’ll cruise to another easy win against Oregon State just because they did so a few weeks ago.
“We did a lot of things that were really good but the reality is the match here means nothing,” Moore said. “Just because we played well and we did things well and they probably didn’t play very well, it means absolutely nothing.”
Still, the Ducks would be wise to try and replicate their success from the Oct. 15 meeting.
In that match, Oregon hit .433 and limited the Beavers to 28 kills and a .128 hitting percentage. Oregon State’s most dangerous weapon, senior Jill Sawatzky, did have seven of her team’s kills, but hit only .080.
If Oregon can play that type of stifling defense again, they’ll have a good shot to sweep the season series with the Beavers.
“We just have to block, that’s it,” Williams said. “That’s what we’ve been struggling with all year. We have to block the balls that we can and dig the balls that we can and just let (Sawatzky) have her few kills and do what we can do to stop her.”
[email protected]
