The Oregon volleyball team travels to the Evergreen state this weekend in search of its first Pacific-10 Conference win of the year.
The search begins tonight against Washington State and continues Saturday against No. 11 Washington in what head coach Carl Ferreira calls “the hardest Pac-10 trip of the year.”
Tonight’s match against Washington State is possibly Oregon’s best remaining opportunity for a conference win. The Cougar roster features 12 freshmen and the team had lost six consecutive matches entering Thursday’s contest with Oregon State. If the Ducks are to be competitive, however, their first order of business will be dealing with the rowdy fans at Bohler Gym.
“It’s a fun collegiate volleyball atmosphere in Bohler,” Ferreira said. “The fans get packed in there tight, they’re on you and they very much assist the home team.”
The Cougars drew a season-high 1,789 fans Oct. 17 against the Huskies. Freshman middle blocker Kristen Bitter said even though roaring crowds can be intimidating, opposing fans can also be used as a shot of adrenaline.
“It can be motivating,” Bitter said. “You can take some of the crowd’s energy and use it against (your opponent). I heard Washington State has a great volleyball atmosphere so I’m excited to see it.”
Washington State may be without the services of outside hitter Kristen Carlson, who injured her left knee in a match against Idaho on Oct. 28. The freshman left-hander, who is sixth in the Pac-10 with 3.9 kills per game during conference matches, is listed as questionable.
The Cougars swept the Ducks 3-0 on Oct. 11 at McArthur Court. After emotional matches against UCLA, USC, Oregon State and Washington, Ferreira said the Ducks failed to come out as an intense group.
Oregon travels to Bank of America Arena on Saturday to take on Washington (15-7, 6-7). The Huskies are led by junior outside hitter Sanja Tomasevic, who is eighth on the active career kill list with 811. Tomasevic sat out with an injury during the Huskies’ 3-0 win over the Ducks on Oct. 10 at Mac Court.
Oregon enters the weekend on a 13-match losing streak. Ferreira said the Ducks need to cut down on their errors if they want to capture a conference win. The Ducks were burned by 16 service errors Oct. 30 against Oregon State.
Ferreira attributed the Ducks’ service difficulties to a lack of mental focus.
“It’s 100 percent mental,” Ferreira said. “(Serving) is the only activity that happens in the entire match where you actually stop and get to hold the ball. Every other skill is a rebound skill off the body that requires pure (athleticism).”
Junior outside hitter Lauren Westendorf said eliminating errors is one step toward Oregon’s goal of playing a complete game.
“We’re just focusing on playing a consistent level of volleyball,” Westendorf said. “Against USC and UCLA we played at a really high level. We definitely showed ourselves as capable of playing as a top-10 team.”