Round two anyone?
The second-half of the Pacific-10 Conference is finally here, and to start it off, the Ducks will battle Pacific Northwest foes Washington State and Washington this weekend.
First up for Oregon will be the Cougars, Friday at Bohler Court. Washington State (10-8 overall, 5-6 Pac-10) defeated Oregon (8-12, 0-9) earlier in the season, dominating head coach Carl Ferreira’s squad in three games. The Ducks began the match on a quick note, but couldn’t get close enough to putting the Cougs away for good.
Friday’s match, set for a 7:30 p.m. start, will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net. So far, in two matches televised by FSN, Oregon has gone 0-2, but have looked their best, albeit not good enough. The Ducks took Oregon State to four games on Oct. 10, only to see the match slip through their hands. Against Arizona State on Oct. 18, however, the Ducks did not look good in a three game loss.
With regional exposure on the line, the Ducks need to have a strong match to impress the rest of the conference. But it won’t be easy against the Cougars.
“I still think we’re one of the top 50 programs in the country,” Ferreira said. “Every single team in this conference is probably in the top 50, it’s just that the rest of them so far are in the top 35.”
Washington State features junior outside hitter La Toya Harris. At 955 career kills, she ranks ninth in the conference in active kill leaders. Harris had 13 kills against the Ducks in their first meeting.
“We came out and had fun tonight,” Cougar head coach Cindy Fredrick said after Washington State dominated Oregon earlier this season. “Not playing so uptight and playing much more aggressively than we came out last night (against Oregon State).”
The Ducks will have their hands full against the offensive-minded Cougars.

Match two brings the Ducks to Seattle to take on the lowly Huskies (10-10, 3-8) at Bank of America Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m. In their third match of the conference season on Sept. 28, the Ducks never really stood a chance against the Huskies, losing in three. After the match, Ferreira held them in the locker room for 90 minutes in hopes of jump starting the team.
“I wanted to hear what they had to say,” Ferreira said after the match. “It was kind of an airing out session. When you’ve got a group that wounded, you don’t step on them. It’s not them feeling bad about themselves and you going in there and lashing out at them. That doesn’t accomplish anything.”
One month later and with eight more matches under their belt, the Ducks are still essentially a wounded squad. Stephanie Martin, Lindsay Closs, and Monique Tobbagi are the heart and soul of this team. So far, only freshman Lauren Westendorf and sophomore Lindsay Murphy have stepped up to support the big three, but there is still more that needs to be done.
Against Washington, the Ducks will have to be at the top of their game. Junior outside hitter Paige Benjamin is second in the Pac-10 with a .402 hitting percentage, and senior outside hitter Allison Richardson is good for 4.06 kills per game. Despite being 3-8 in conference, Washington is capable of running the table on any team.
For that simple reason alone, Oregon needs to be successful. They need to prove to the rest of the conference that they are not simply walkovers and can compete in the second-half.
“One of the things I tell them is that it takes nine-and-a half months from January ’til now to prepare for what we do,” Ferreira said. “And if all of us went up a mountain for nine months and kept looking at the snow peak, well you’re not going to have a bad day once you get there.”
The Ducks have had enough bad days. Maybe this weekend will provide a good day.