While its hopes of achieving success in the upcoming NCAA Tournament@@capitalize tournament?@@ are alive and well, the No. 15 Oregon’s volleyball program@@avca coaches: http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1/avca_coaches@@ took a brief break from the rigors of the season to announce its 2012 recruiting class last week.
The three-person class features players from three different states and is as highly touted as any in recent Oregon history. Head coach Jim Moore,@@CE@@ who has been coaching volleyball at the collegiate level since 1989,@@started at Northern Michigan: http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=113244@@ called the group “physically the best class I’ve ever recruited, anywhere.”
Indeed, Martenne Bettendorf (Central Catholic High School, Portland),@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4287&SPID=234&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205330732@@ Canace Finley (Poudre High School, Fort Collins, Colo.)@@see previous@@ and Madison Magee (Skyline High School, Sammamish, Wash.)@@see previous@@ should give Oregon a needed dose of athleticism and offensive skill. Each can touch well above 10 feet and possesses an array of skills.
Moore provided an assessment of each recruit:
Magee: “She touches 10-foot-4. I think she’ll be in the front row. She’s very similar to (former Oregon outside hitter) Sonja Newcombe.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=1523542@@ Blocking-wise, she’s as instinctive as Sonja was. I think she’ll be very, very good. She’s going to have to get her back row skills, but she’ll be able to hold her own in the front row.”
Bettendorf: “Just yesterday she made first-team Under Armour All-American,@@http://www.avca.org/awards/divisional-/high-school/@@ so she’ll be playing in the same match (Oregon freshman Liz Brenner@@roster@@) played last year. Liz was the first one we ever had, and Martenne is right back after. Martenne was one of the last people to be cut from the (U.S.) Youth National Team. She was one of the top 15 kids in the country, and people thought she should have made the team. She touches 10-foot-5. She’s going to be a great player, and she’s going to have an immediate impact in the front row for sure.”
Finley: “She’s an absolute physical specimen. She looks like (current Oregon outside hitter Alaina Bergsma@@roster@@). Just build-wise, she looks like Alaina. She’s really tall, really skinny and jumps out of the gym. And she’s still growing, is the scary part, but she’s not awkward at all. She’s very strong, just wiry strong, and is going to be difficult to deal with.”
Days after Moore and Oregon announced their recruiting class, Oregon posted another major victory, this one on the floor against then-No.1 UCLA. The win was the Ducks’ second over a No. 1 team this year after beating Penn State in the season opener.
“We know that each game is different — ranking doesn’t really matter,” middle blocker Savannah Paffen@@roster@@ said. “But of course it’s nice to be able to say you got to beat No. 1 twice in one season.”
In contrast to last season when they posted only one victory over a top-10 opponent, Oregon now claims three such wins, over UCLA, Penn State and Washington.@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=234&SPSID=4284@@
“For the NCAA Tournament, it’s considered a good win when you beat teams that you’re not necessarily on paper supposed to beat,” Bergsma said. “So now we have three of those, so that definitely helps us with getting into the tournament.”
With only four games left in the season, the Ducks (18-8, 11-7 Pac-12)@@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/Volleyball/Standings.aspx@@ have virtually assured themselves a berth in the tournament but still have plenty of motivation to finish the season strong. If they’re able to beat either Cal or Stanford this weekend, then sweep two games from a mediocre Oregon State team, the Ducks will be in prime position to host an NCAA Tournament regional.
“We want to host,” Moore said. “To host, we probably have to win one of these two, and then we can’t have a letdown against Oregon State. Every match from now on is huge.”