The last time the Oregon volleyball team took the court, it was amidst the hoopla of the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
Last season has long since ended but, buoyed by a core group returning, Oregon is traveling to Australia intent on enhancing the chemistry of an already close group and taking in the sights.
The Ducks leave on Friday, March 21, and return on Sunday, March 30. On the trip, Oregon is playing three matches with the Australian National Team. The first two matches are in Sydney on March 23 and 24. The last match is on Wednesday, March 26, in Brisbane.
Last season marked another breakthrough for the program under coach Jim Moore as the Ducks made a run through Manhattan, Kan., into a Sweet 16 match-up with UCLA. The Bruins eliminated Oregon in four games. Essentially the entire team returns, outside of senior Karen Waddington, and Moore is already getting his team ready.
“My only goal is to get us to play hard and to play smart basically every game and let the chips fall where they may,” he said.
Australia is familiar territory for Moore, who has already visited the country twice – once when he was recruiting a player for Texas and again when he was in his first year as Oregon coach and traveled the globe.
Oregon players are going to see new teammate, Rhiannon Tooker, firsthand. Tooker, one of two signees in 2008, will be playing with the Australian National Team.
She is unable to travel around Australia with Oregon because of NCAA rules, but made her own arrangements to join the Ducks on the flight back and will begin taking classes spring term. The early arrival in Eugene will benefit Tooker, who can adjust to college life and be better prepared for her first season in the fall, Moore said.
“The hardest part of being a freshman is getting used to everything,” he said. “It’s hard. It’s difficult. There’s so many things. Getting used to school, getting ready to compete.”
Upon Oregon’s return, the Ducks will participate in matches at the Nike Campus in Beaverton on April 5 and travel to Western Washington on April 12. Oregon will also play in-state rival Oregon State.
But first, Oregon is traveling Down Under.
“We knew that this was going to be a year that could be obviously a big year for us,” Moore said. “A lot of it had to do with Renee (Baumgartner).”
Baumgartner, Oregon’s senior associate athletic director, used to be a golf coach. She took her team on a foreign tour and highly recommended it.
College teams are allowed to take a tour once every four years. The women’s basketball team will be taking one this year to Italy.
The trip is branching outside the volleyball court with multiple tourist stops. Players will visit Sydney Aquarium. During the stop in Brisbane, Oregon will take in the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where players will have the chance to visit and feed the koalas.
Oregon is making a two-pronged visit to Cairns. They are going to take in the Great Barrier Reef. It is the world’s largest coral reef system and located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia.
“Anytime you’re forced to be together for a long period of time it helps,” Moore said. “I think it will help tremendously. I think we’re a close group. But anytime you have life experiences it gets you closer that’s for sure.”
Moore had hoped outgoing Waddington could have gone along, but he said an NCAA rule prevents her from going now that her playing eligibility has expired.
Traditionally, teams take tours during the summer, but Moore chose to take it over spring break to give his team more time off during the summer.
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