In every match of Oregon volleyball’s season, Ducks libero Amanda Benson has had one goal in mind: beat the Oregon dig record.
The junior from Litchfield Park, Arizona currently sits in second place for Oregon’s career digs per set with 4.49, but her goal is to take the No. 1 position from 2008 grad Katie Swoboda, who has 5.11. Benson also trails Swoboda for the single-season dig record; she needs 600 digs to make the Oregon record book as the leading digger.
“Every day in practice my mindset has been ‘just dig everything you can,’” Benson said. “I’m also working towards beating the dig record from Katie. That’s my motivation.”
Benson holds the second place position for digs in the Pac-12 this season. She was No. 1 in the conference before the Ducks struggled with California schools. Benson is only bested by Taylor Whittingham of undefeated USC.
“I’m trying to just lay down and get everything I can,” Benson said.
Benson began playing libero for the Ducks in her very first year at Oregon and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. In her sophomore year, she was a member of the Pac-12 All-Star team, tallying 1,050 career digs and making the Oregon career digs list.
“Amanda takes over the whole back row,” senior hitter Martenne Bettendorf said of her libero.
The key to the junior’s record-holding digs ability is her keen sense of reading hitters’ shoulders to tell where the ball is going to be hit. This trait enables Benson to be ready for the hit before the opposing team’s hitters even swing.
“She reads better than anybody,” said head coach Jim Moore. “She’s by far our most consistent player.”
Benson has continued to demonstrate that consistency in her junior season, totaling 323 digs for the year so far. But Moore says it isn’t Benson’s digging ability that puts her above the rest, it’s her serve-receive.
“She’s obviously got a great platform,” Moore said. “She’s the best passer in the country, in my opinion.”
On Friday against Utah, Benson added 16 digs in four sets for the Ducks, doing her part to better Oregon’s chances of making it to the NCAA tournament. Benson also had 25 digs on Sunday in Oregon’s win over Colorado to keep its tournament chances alive. Before the road-trip, Benson discussed the importance of this weekend’s matches.
“We need to win out this weekend, especially for our overall record, in hopes of getting in the tournament,” Benson said.
Oregon has struggled in conference play this season and currently holds a record of 11-10 overall, 5-7 in the Pac-12. The Ducks have been able to start sets with a bang, but finishing has been the difficulty. Oregon was able to break out of that shell on Saturday with a fifth-set win over Colorado.
Going into the final half of the season Moore has just one goal for Benson.
“We just need her to keep playing hard.”
Follow Madison Layton on Twitter @MadisonLayton01