The No. 16 Oregon volleyball team is about to enter the eye of the Pacific-10 Conference storm.
Over the next two weekends, the Ducks will navigate through a minefield of highly ranked opponents — No. 8 USC today, No. 11 UCLA Saturday, and No. 2 Stanford and No. 5 Cal next weekend.
Those four opponents have a combined all-time record of 187-31 against the Ducks.
But thanks in part to an impressive shutout victory over Oregon State in the Civil War last Friday, Oregon is a confident bunch.
“I think it was a really good confidence boost for all of us,” sophomore Katherine Fischer said of the 3-0 win over the Beavers. “We saw how well we can play against another Pac-10 team.”
Then again, Cal, Stanford, UCLA and USC aren’t exactly average Pac-10 opponents.
“We’ve talked about how good the teams we’re going to play are,” Fischer added. “We’re getting our heads wrapped around that we’re not going to win every single match — we know that — but we just have to go in and know that we’ll win some and we’ll lose some.”
This weekend, Oregon’s focus will be on the two Southern California schools.
Although both the Trojans and Bruins are ranked higher in the polls, Oregon (16-3, 4-3 Pac-10) actually has a better record than both USC (15-3, 4-3 Pac-10) and UCLA (13-5, 3-4 Pac-10).
“All these teams are good and every team can beat everyone, so it’s a dog-eat-dog kind of style right now,” Oregon senior outside hitter Heather Meyers said.
That’s not to say both USC and UCLA aren’t deserving of their high national rankings.
The Trojans, who topped the Ducks in both meetings last season, stack up well in major Pac-10 statistical categories, ranking fifth in hitting percentage, third in assists, third in aces, and fourth in kills.
The USC offense is led by outside hitters Alex Jupiter and Falyn Fonoimoana and middle blocker Lauren Williams. Williams leads the Pac-10 in hitting percentage at .418, Jupiter leads the Trojans in kills and the freshman Fonoimoana is second in kills and third in aces.
At 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-4, respectively, Jupiter and Fonoimoana have the height to make life difficult for Oregon’s defense. The Ducks’ blockers will have to position themselves well to have a chance at containing them.
“We know they go to their outsides a lot,” Fischer said. “They (have) really high sets and hopefully (we can) get out there and set up a good block.”
But while USC’s floor defense is as good as its offense — the Trojans rank third in the Pac-10 in digs and fourth in opponent hitting percentage — USC’s blocking is porous at times.
“They’re not blocking as many balls as they have in the past,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said. “I hope that we can get the ball by the block and have a chance to put the ball on the floor.”
Getting kills might prove more difficult against UCLA. While not a premier offensive team, the Bruins have found success this season with a stifling floor defense that leads the Pac-10 in digs.
“UCLA’s defense is superb,” Fischer said. “They get everything up so we’re going to have to keep hitting hard. We can’t expect it to be on the floor every time”
The Bruins’ offense, on the other hand, is closer to average. They rank seventh in the Pac-10 in hitting percentage, sixth in assists, and sixth in kills.
Still, like every team in the conference, UCLA has its fair share of weapons. Middle blocker Katie Camp ranks tenth in the Pac-10 in hitting percentage, outside hitter Dicey McGraw is tenth in kills, and setter Lauren Van Orden is sixth in assists and fifth in service aces.
Nevertheless, Oregon remains confident. If they pass and serve with precision, the Ducks feel they can compete with anyone.
“There’s no tricks to doing this,” Moore said. “We have to execute what we have to do we’re going to have to serve and pass we’re going to have to put balls on the floor.”
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