After playing 12 of its first 14 matches on the road, the Oregon volleyball team is glad to be home.
The Ducks play five of their next seven matches at McArthur Court, including contests with Washington State and Washington this weekend.
After tough road losses to UCLA, USC and Oregon State, Oregon is looking forward to having crowd support back on its side.
“We really need the fans,” Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said. “It’s been almost two months (of traveling). The fans mean so much in terms of your energy and in terms of your atmosphere, so playing in Mac Court is very special in and of itself.
“The fans are truly awesome for a young team,” he said.
Oregon (3-11 overall, 0-5 Pacific-10 Conference) will travel to Arizona after battling the Washington schools, then it’s back home for matches against UCLA, USC and Oregon State starting on Oct. 23.
Friday’s match against Washington State will be a battle of young teams fighting for respect. The Cougars had a 2-0 lead over the No. 8 Bruins before falling in five games on Saturday. Ferreira said he hopes Oregon fans will come support the Ducks the way Washington State fans support the Cougars.
“With Washington State and Oregon you have two similar styles of teams,” Ferreira said. “There’s a lot of youth in both teams, and there’s a lot of learning going on in terms of what it is you want to accomplish and why.
“Washington State has the best volleyball atmosphere in the conference.”
Saturday’s match against the No. 13 Huskies will present the Ducks with yet another opponent ranked in the top 25. Washington is 11-4 but has lost four matches in a row to top 15 teams.
“(The Huskies) run a nice effective system,” Ferreira said. “They score points, they minimize errors. They play within themselves very well.”

Bitter’s block party
The Ducks have been getting solid play from middle blocker Kristen Bitter. The 6-foot-4-inch freshman from Roseburg has been a block machine of late, including six in last Thursday’s Civil War. She also had five solo blocks on Aug. 30 against Temple, which stands as the highest solo block total for a Pac-10 player this season.
“Kristen’s been exceptional,” Ferreira said. “She has a very, very high learning curve in terms of providing her with information and her ability to turn around and apply that information.
“I don’t think she’s had a bad day in
two months.”
With a jump touch of 10-feet-3-inches, Bitter has a size and athletic ability that can’t be taught during practice.
“She came in with a low level of volleyball experience, but she makes up for it with so many intangibles that you could never teach,” Ferreira said. “And you just recruit those intangibles.”
Bitter is still soaking up the experience of being a collegiate athlete. After practicing time management in high school, Bitter has yet to run into a situation she couldn’t handle.
“It hasn’t been too big of a problem yet,” Bitter said. “I really like it here. I love the team, I love the coaches, I love the school, and it has been a lot of fun so far.”
Bitter added she’s excited to be home for the second time in her young collegiate career.
“I think we’re all very excited to play this weekend because we’ll be back on the home court,” Bitter said. “It’s always awesome to play in front of the fans at Mac Court.”

Stat leaders
Sophomore middle blocker Kelly Russell is playing at a high level of late and leads the Ducks in kills per game (3.29), hitting percentage (.292) and points (3.94).
Junior libero Katie O’Neil has a team high 146 digs, averaging 2.98 per game. Her 14 digs against Oregon State made up her eighth double-figure dig performance of the season and put her career total at 523.
Sophomore setter Jodi Bell leads the team in assists with 448, averaging 9.14 per game. Freshman setter Heather Madison, a former Gresham High School All-American, is second with 94 assists, averaging 2.35 per game.