Senior Katie O’Neil, left, and junior Kelly Russell, right, have been the ‘anchors’ of Oregon’s team. Sophomore Sarah Mason, middle, is expected to return from injury this week.
Eight matches remain on Oregon’s schedule, with five of its upcoming opponents ranked in the top 25.
The Ducks have surrendered eight consecutive conference matches and they have only won four of 28 games played during the current stretch.
Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira pinpointed inconsistency and a lack of attack rhythm for his team’s depressing offensive slump.
“The thing that we have been truly trying to work on this week is sustaining our point-scoring patience,” Ferreira said after practice Tuesday. “I think we have proved that we can play at the level we want to play at.”
Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Mason is expected to return from an ankle injury sustained in practice two weeks ago. According to Ferreira, she was medically cleared to practice on Monday and participated in half of that day’s drills. On Tuesday, Ferreira estimated that Mason took part in 70 percent of the practice drills and felt fine.
“It’s been fun to have her back in the gym,” Ferreira said. “Hopefully she’ll be available for us this upcoming weekend. There’s no question that a 6-foot-3 outside hitter is a good thing. I think it will give our whole team a boost.”
Ferreira predicts Mason will play in at least part of one game, possibly two, this week. The potency of Mason’s attack and her intensity on the floor could give Oregon’s offense the shot in the arm it has needed.
“It’s definitely been a process
and a transition to get ourselves back on our feet without Lauren (Westendorf) and Sarah,” Ferreira said. “Outside hitters get the most attempts and score the most points out of anybody on the team. When you lose your top two point scorers, it definitely throws you into a bit of a bind.
“Our core players deserve a lot of credit. Kelly (Russell) and Katie (O’Neil) have been the anchors and some of the younger players have been gaining experience match after match.”
Both Russell and O’Neil posted career-highs in each of their positions’ most important statistic against Washington State. Russell, an outside hitter, landed a match-high 25 kills. O’Neil, a libero, collected 43 digs, also a match-high and good for third on the Pacific-10 Conference all-time list for one match.
Oregon (9-12 overall, 1-10 Pac-10) faces off against No. 22 Arizona today in Tucson, Ariz. The Wildcats (13-8, 5-6) extended their streak to 12 consecutive wins and their all-time record to 32-8 with a sweep of the Ducks one month ago.
“Arizona has one prime player in Kim Glass and as a team they take their cues from her,” Ferreira said. “I think we have a higher level of ball control than Arizona and we need to serve well.”
Ferreira believes if the Ducks can contain Glass with a double block or other situational defensive adjustments and force Arizona to resort to other attack options, they will have a good chance of finishing on top. Glass, a junior, recorded 15 kills in the last contest against Oregon.
Arizona State (8-12, 3-8) earned its first league win by defeating Oregon in four games after starting 0-4 in conference play. The Sun Devils have won 13 straight against Oregon, but they find themselves in another four-match skid going into their homestand against the Oregon schools.
“Last time we played Arizona State, I thought they served well and took us a little bit out of our own offense,” Ferreira said. “They block well and they serve well. I think that is what their two primary factors are.”
Ferreira explained that Oregon will have to offensively outplay Arizona State’s entire squad of young players devoted to its system.
“If we can reach our kill percentage and attack error percentage goals, we’ll win both matches,” Ferreira said.
