The Oregon volleyball team already made history by making the NCAA Tournament. Oregon will now try to extend its trip with an upset of No. 12 Hawaii on Friday.
It’ll be a new experience for Oregon, with its mix of youthful talent and senior experience.
“It’s kind of like the prize at the end of four years,” senior outside hitter Erin Little said. “Our coaches always tell us, ‘You don’t remember regular season. What you remember is the playoffs – the tournament. That’s what you’re going to remember.’”
Oregon (17-11) meets the University of Hawaii (26-5) tonight at 5 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Long Beach State University. The winner advances to face the survivor of the Long Beach State-Pepperdine match-up on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The survivor of this Long Beach State subregional heads to the Honolulu Regional in Hawaii.
Oregon is battle tested, fresh off it’s Pacific-10 Conference portion of the season. Though Oregon has lost seven straight, the Ducks consistently played top-25 programs, including four in the last two weeks of the season.
“We’re not going to be intimidated by their size or we’re not going to be intimidated by what they do,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said. “We’ve seen it all year long so that’s a big advantage. It still comes down to whether we’re going to play or not play.”
“I’ve not had an experience quite to this scale of playoffs,” Little said. “To be honest, we’ve been preparing this whole year by playing Pac-10 matches and that’s really what the Tournament is. It’s still playing at that high-caliber level.”
Should Oregon make it past Hawaii, there’s the possibility of a rematch with Long Beach State (25-5).
Oregon traveled to Long Beach during the non-conference portion of the season and upset then-No. 17 Long Beach State in four games. Little had one of the best matches of her Oregon career with 17 kills.
The Long Beach State gym is unique with its pyramid shape.
“I’m definitely glad we’ve played there once before because the first time we were there … it was very just amazing to look at and such a different looking gym than what we’re used to,” Little said.
Oregon meets Hawaii, who enters Friday on a 13-match winning streak. The Warriors won the Western Athletic Conference Championship to earn an automatic bid and boast a potent lineup featuring Jamie Houston, a 6-foot-2-inch left-side hitter and former Oregon star Sarah Mason.
Houston is one of the most consistent hitters in the country with 5 1?2 kills per game. A fellow left-side hitter, the 6-foot-3-inch Mason averages 4 kills and almost 3 digs a game.
“She is still a young player and gets into these streaks where she loses her skills,” Hawaii coach Dave Shoji told the Honolulu Advertiser about Houston. “A lot of players go through this, but she’s in the spotlight all the time because she has so many opportunities. Both our middles have gone through it but not that many people pay attention. Jamie has to carry the team. If she has a bad streak it’s very noticeable.”
Mason experienced the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time.
“It’s single elimination and you have to go out every game and play your best and give it your all because every game could be your last game of the season,” Mason said. “It’s a really exciting experience.”
Hawaii revisited
Chris Voelz is intimately aware of Oregon facing Hawaii from her experience as coach of the program. Under her watch, Oregon beat then-No. 7 Hawaii 15-9, 16-14, 14-16, 3-15, 15-9 at McArthur Court.
Recruiting was key, Voelz says, and Oregon is in a great position to recruit. The Ducks can draw kids who want to leave California but not go too far from home, blue chip players from the Northwest and Southern California players who aren’t at the level of USC or UCLA, but can play a role at Oregon, Voelz said.
“If I had not successfully recruited Sue Harbour and then Lisa Gemoya, we would have had a decent team, but we wouldn’t have been a Top-10 team,” Voelz said of her 1984 squad. “Then it allows you to have a surprise – an upset over Hawaii.”
The current coaching staff has combined a local flavor with international talent in Serbians Mira Djuric, Nevena Djordjevic and Gorana Maricic.
“We didn’t choose to do it that way, but everybody has their different styles and different approaches to turning around a program,” Voelz said.
Oregon went 27-12 in 1984, 9-2 in the NorPac Conference, the predecessor to the Pac-10.
“Things happen, and then everybody kind of climbs onboard,” Voelz said. “The recruiting momentum gains.”[email protected]