Despite shoddy attendance, long stretches of uninspired play and a few moments of near-disaster, last weekend was one of the most memorable in the two seasons I’ve been covering Oregon volleyball.@@This seems counterintuitive to the rest of the article.@@
After edging out subpar Washington State 3-2 on Friday, the Ducks smashed the hated No. 7 Washington Huskies 3-0 Saturday. It was a victory that prompted one of the quotes of the year by an Oregon volleyball player, courtesy of middle blocker Ariana Williams: “We beat Washington,” she said. “We’re not such little Duckies now.”@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=234&SPSID=4284@@ @@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/w-volley/recaps/102311aaa.html@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204963244@@
Although Washington was easily the bigger win, there was a sequence at the tail end of the Washington State match I found to be particularly revealing.
At first, Oregon looked terrible as they fell behind the Cougars 2-0. But a kick in the pants at halftime by coach Jim Moore inspired the troops, and the Ducks won the following two sets to tie the match at 2-2.
The fifth set was the most dramatic 10-15 minutes of volleyball I’ve witnessed. Even though everyone in the arena expected Oregon to roll, Washington State was the better team for the first half of the final set and jumped to a 9-5 lead. Given that fifth sets are only played to 15 points (rather than the normal 25), the Ducks were in a significant hole.
That’s when Oregon outside hitter Liz Brenner made her mark on the match. Brenner scored a kill to reduce Washington State’s lead to 9-6. After Oregon had inched to within 9-8, Brenner committed two consecutive hitting errors to give the Cougars an 11-8 advantage. Brenner’s teammates picked her up, however and rolled off five straight points to give Oregon a 13-11 lead.
Her confidence unshaken, Brenner played the role of closer. She scored an emphatic kill for a 14-11 Duck lead and then one point later, another successful attack for a 15-12 set victory.
That stretch of play perfectly encompasses what Brenner brings to the team — moments of brilliance, but also growing pains that come with inexperience.
As the season has progressed, the brilliance has begun to outweigh the mistakes. Moore told reporters that the light bulb went off for Brenner in practice last week and her assertiveness was apparent throughout both matches.
Brenner’s development will be an X factor for Oregon’s NCAA Tournament chances this year.
If she can emerge as a reliable second hitter, one that opponents have to account for on every point, Oregon’s offense will take off. Redshirt junior Alaina Bergsma has been the team’s No. 1 option the entire season and has filled the role well. She leads the team in kills by a wide margin (with 319) and posts a respectable .244 hitting percentage.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204880765@@ @@http://www.pac-12.org/Portals/7/images/wvolleyball/2011-Stats/HTML/ORE.HTM#team.ind@@
However the Ducks need more than Bergsma to be considered one of the top offensive teams in the conference.
In and of itself, that’s no startling revelation. Every volleyball team — heck, every sports team — needs more than one weapon to be successful.
But unlike other teams, Oregon is better positioned to use a second weapon. That’s largely due to setter Lauren Plum, who was named Player of the Week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Tuesday following the Ducks’ wins over Washington and Washington State.@@http://avca.org/divisions/division-one-women/player-of-the-week/@@
Although the 5-foot-9 Plum doesn’t have prototypical size, she’s one of the most athletic, creative and heady setters in the nation. Plum has the court awareness to set the hitter with the more favorable matchup and keep defenses off balance. Brenner is another component to an increasingly dynamic Duck offense, and Plum knows how to fit the pieces together.
“When Lauren gets the ball out there, she does great things. That makes us what we are,” Moore said after the Washington win.
With the emergence of Brenner, the steady play of Bergsma, Plum and a strong supporting cast, “what we are” could become more than many thought possible at the beginning of the year.
After edging out subpar Washington State 3-2 on Friday, the Ducks smashed the hated No. 7 Washington Huskies 3-0 Saturday. It was a victory that prompted one of the quotes of the year by an Oregon volleyball player, courtesy of middle blocker Ariana Williams: “We beat Washington,” she said. “We’re not such little Duckies now.”@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=234&SPSID=4284@@ @@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/w-volley/recaps/102311aaa.html@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204963244@@
Although Washington was easily the bigger win, there was a sequence at the tail end of the Washington State match I found to be particularly revealing.
At first, Oregon looked terrible as they fell behind the Cougars 2-0. But a kick in the pants at halftime by coach Jim Moore inspired the troops, and the Ducks won the following two sets to tie the match at 2-2.
The fifth set was the most dramatic 10-15 minutes of volleyball I’ve witnessed. Even though everyone in the arena expected Oregon to roll, Washington State was the better team for the first half of the final set and jumped to a 9-5 lead. Given that fifth sets are only played to 15 points (rather than the normal 25), the Ducks were in a significant hole.
That’s when Oregon outside hitter Liz Brenner made her mark on the match. Brenner scored a kill to reduce Washington State’s lead to 9-6. After Oregon had inched to within 9-8, Brenner committed two consecutive hitting errors to give the Cougars an 11-8 advantage. Brenner’s teammates picked her up, however and rolled off five straight points to give Oregon a 13-11 lead.
Her confidence unshaken, Brenner played the role of closer. She scored an emphatic kill for a 14-11 Duck lead and then one point later, another successful attack for a 15-12 set victory.
That stretch of play perfectly encompasses what Brenner brings to the team — moments of brilliance, but also growing pains that come with inexperience.
As the season has progressed, the brilliance has begun to outweigh the mistakes. Moore told reporters that the light bulb went off for Brenner in practice last week and her assertiveness was apparent throughout both matches.
Brenner’s development will be an X factor for Oregon’s NCAA Tournament chances this year.
If she can emerge as a reliable second hitter, one that opponents have to account for on every point, Oregon’s offense will take off. Redshirt junior Alaina Bergsma has been the team’s No. 1 option the entire season and has filled the role well. She leads the team in kills by a wide margin (with 319) and posts a respectable .244 hitting percentage.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204880765@@ @@http://www.pac-12.org/Portals/7/images/wvolleyball/2011-Stats/HTML/ORE.HTM#team.ind@@
However the Ducks need more than Bergsma to be considered one of the top offensive teams in the conference.
In and of itself, that’s no startling revelation. Every volleyball team — heck, every sports team — needs more than one weapon to be successful.
But unlike other teams, Oregon is better positioned to use a second weapon. That’s largely due to setter Lauren Plum, who was named Player of the Week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Tuesday following the Ducks’ wins over Washington and Washington State.@@http://avca.org/divisions/division-one-women/player-of-the-week/@@
Although the 5-foot-9 Plum doesn’t have prototypical size, she’s one of the most athletic, creative and heady setters in the nation. Plum has the court awareness to set the hitter with the more favorable matchup and keep defenses off balance. Brenner is another component to an increasingly dynamic Duck offense, and Plum knows how to fit the pieces together.
“When Lauren gets the ball out there, she does great things. That makes us what we are,” Moore said after the Washington win.
With the emergence of Brenner, the steady play of Bergsma, Plum and a strong supporting cast, “what we are” could become more than many thought possible at the beginning of the year.