One third of the way through its Pac-10 Conference season, the Oregon volleyball team finds itself in the middle of the pack.
The Ducks are in sixth place after a 3-3 start to conference play, with wins over Washington, Washington State and Arizona State, and losses to Cal, Stanford and Arizona.
Given Oregon’s inexperience, Duck coach Jim Moore is pleased with his team’s performance to date.
“We’re better than I thought,” Moore said. “We haven’t proven it the last two weeks but if you go back to where I was Aug. 1, I thought we were pretty good but we can be really, really good. I didn’t know that we were capable of the level we played at against Washington.”
But higher expectations also mean increased scrutiny. Oregon blew a great opportunity to beat Arizona at home last weekend (the Wildcats came back from a 2-1 deficit), and questions persist about the confidence level and mindset of the team.
“We need to be more focused,” Moore said. “We need to have more fight and more drive coming out.”
First Set Struggles
Given the Ducks’ youth, it’s not a huge shock that Oregon is still trying to iron out the mental side of the game.
Senior outside hitter Heather Meyers acts as the only upperclassman in the Ducks’ playing rotation, while two true freshmen (Lauren Plum and Ariana Williams) receive prominent playing time.
That’s a possible explanation for a puzzling phenomenon. After winning the first set in 13 of their first 14 matches, the Ducks have lost the first set in their past four.
Sure, Pac-10 foes Stanford, Cal, Arizona, and Arizona State represent a step up in competition over the Duck’s non-conference opponents, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
“We lost four first (sets) in a row and you say Arizona and Arizona State are better opponents but we won the next two (sets against Arizona and Arizona State),” Moore said. “It’s a drive, a fight, whatever term people want to use, coming out ready to go right from the beginning.”
Surpassing Expectations
Both Ariana Williams and Lauren Plum have surpassed expectations as true freshmen. Plum, a setter, is third in the Pac-10 in assists with 11.82 per set. Williams ranks fourth on the team in kills with 2.18 per set and first in hitting percentage (among the regular rotation players) at .337.
Moore has been particularly impressed with Williams’ mental maturity.
“Ari’s a huge surprise in the way she handles things,” Moore said. “Nothing really flusters her so that’s been real neat. I’m real pleasantly surprised at how Ari is able to cope with the stresses of everything.”
Plum has been a key reason why Moore considers the Ducks’ passing to be one of the team’s best skills.
“Our serving and passing is our strength,” Moore said.
By the Numbers
After splitting a home series against Arizona and Arizona State last weekend, the Ducks fell from No. 13 to No. 17 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association polls.
As a team, the Ducks fare well in several major statistical categories. Oregon is No. 1 in the conference in service aces (2.02 per set) and No. 3 in kills (14.2 per set).
Individually, senior Heather Meyers leads the Pac-10 in service aces per set (.75) by a wide margin over USC’s Alex Jupiter. Meyers also ranks seventh in the conference in points with an average of 4.58 per set.
In addition to being third in the conference in assists per set, Plum also holds the Pac-10 season high for assists in a three set match with 48 against Santa Clara in late August.
Other Ducks in the top-10 of major Pac-10 statistical categories include sophomore Kat Fischer (No. 3 in the Pac-10 in aces with 0.40 per set), Haley Jacob (No. 6 in digs with 3.98 per set) and Jocelyn Levig (No. 9 in aces per set with 0.29).
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