The goal is coming into view for the Oregon volleyball team.
Entering the midpoint of the Pacific-10 Conference schedule on Friday night, a second straight appearance for No. 19 Oregon in the NCAA Tournament is within sight.
Four consecutive losses have blurred the Ducks path, but with the Civil War on Friday and two matches the following weekend against the Arizona schools within McArthur Court’s confines, Oregon has an opportunity to find its way and move above .500 in conference play.
All of the above-mentioned teams the Ducks (16-6, 3-5 Pac-10) have defeated, except Oregon State, and Oregon has its first opportunity to beat the Beavers in Corvallis on Friday. The match is set for 7 p.m. at Gill Coliseum.
“Like all Civil War games, I think it’s going to be a tough match,” middle blocker Kristen Forristall said. “Being at their place, they’re definitely going to pack it out in orange and black but we’re just going to go down there and play as hard as we can.”
Oregon has been practicing the past week and trying to get past the memories of last weekend’s trip to Los Angeles, where the Ducks lost matches to then-No. 4 UCLA and then-No. 6 USC. It came one week after losing two home matches to then-No. 10 California and then-No. 2 Stanford.
The UCLA match offered an opportunity to upset the No. 4 team in the country, but after leading game one 29-26 the Ducks lost that game and then the match in four games.
“After the UCLA match, all of us felt we’re paper-thin away from being very, very good,” Moore said.
The next night against USC, errors caught up with Oregon and the Ducks fell in three straight games.
“I think we’ve had a lot of missed opportunities,” Moore said. “Cal in the first game and UCLA – it is a missed opportunity but this is the time to have missed opportunities. You want to learn. You want to get better. You want to do it now. You don’t want to do it in the second half (of the conference season).”
That same night – Friday evening – Oregon State upset UCLA and now returns to a familiar setting. Oregon State is 9-11 overall, 2-6 in conference and powered by Rachel Rourke, who is averaging 4.51 kills a game.
“They’re promoting the match,” Moore said. ” They’re going to be flying high. It’s going to be very difficult for us to just hang in there from an emotional standpoint.”
Oregon is benefiting from the improved play of Sonja Newcombe, who had five kills against Cal and eight against Stanford, had a career-high 24 against UCLA.
One of the reasons for her mini-slump is an arm injury, which has improved, Moore said.
“I think it started with her arm,” Moore said. “She had bicep tendinitis and she just couldn’t swing the way she wanted to swing.”
The improved play from Newcombe and steady play of Gorana Maricic gives Oregon a potent offense. In the UCLA match, the Ducks also had a career night from Neticia Enesi, who had 12 kills, hit a team-high .476 and made six blocks.
“Everybody played great, especially offensively we played very well,” Moore said. “We needed to be a little tougher defensively and that’s what we have to do. We’re going to have to stop some people.”
Now, with the Los Angeles trip behind them, Oregon can look ahead to its rivalry with Oregon State.
“I’m excited,” said Maricic, who is playing in her first Civil War match. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be hard. They’re not as bad as they were last year.”
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