In search of its first Pacific-10 Conference win of the year, the Oregon women’s volleyball team is hoping for an early Christmas.
This weekend, the Ducks (7-4 overall, 0-3 Pacific-10) head south to battle two of the country’s elite teams — No. 4 USC and No. 5 UCLA.
“This is definitely our most difficult road trip of the season,” head coach Carl Ferreira said.
Friday’s contest features a Bruin team that is undefeated in conference play (4-0) and 9-3 overall. UCLA holds a 31-3 series advantage over the Ducks, with Oregon’s last victory coming way back in 1987.
“When you play better teams, they know how to put pressure on both sides of the ball,” Ferrieira said. “They make scoring points harder. But the good news is that we have a lot of confidence in understanding that we can play at this level.”
UCLA’s Kristee Porter leads the conference in kills average with 5.37 per game, and is a candidate for the honor of national player of the year.
“We’re looking to win,” said junior outside hitter Monique Tobbagi, who leads the young Duck squad in kills with 3.85 per game. “We know that if we execute our offense, we’re headed in the right direction and we can take these teams.”
On a positive note, the Ducks lead the league in service aces with 2.18 per game. Sophomore setter Sydney Chute is second in the Pac-10 with 25 aces this season.

“Regardless of the outcome, in the conference you have to learn how to handle the results maturely in order to play back-to-back,” Ferreira said. “If you win, you have to do it again tomorrow. If you lose, your opponent is hoping you have a pity party for yourself so you’re not good tomorrow. So the second game is key.”
And that second game will not get any easier for Oregon.
The undefeated USC Trojans, ranked No. 1 according to Volleyball Magazine, has yet to even drop a game this season, sweeping all of its opponents.
“We need to improve our point scoring efficiency,” Ferreira said. “Against these two top teams, you don’t get your chances back. You have to take care of the possessions you get. You have to have a very high level of efficiency; if not, they’ll capitalize.”
The Pac-10’s most ferocious blocking team is led by Trojan junior Jennifer Pahl, who posted a .750 attack percentage against Stanford on Sept. 22 and was named the Pac-10 player of the week.

“Everyone is beatable,” Chute said. “If we run our system, we can beat anybody. We just want to compete as hard as we can and leave it all on the court.”
Despite enormous odds, Ferreira said his team does a good job of not anticipating certain outcomes.
“We’re not going to predetermine winning and losing based on what’s on your jersey or what you’re ranked nationally,” said the first-year Oregon coach. “We’re going to play and focus on what we can control, not what we can’t control.”
In three Pac-10 matches this season, the Ducks have taken each of their opponents to the deciding fifth game. Against Stanford, then the 11th ranked team, Oregon nearly pulled out an upset.
“It’s exciting,” Ferreira said. “Anything can happen. This is a very mature team that has competed consistently every single night.”
Last Sunday, the Ducks ended their three game slide by sweeping the Portland Pilots for their first home win of the season.
Following this weekend’s trip to Los Angeles, Oregon will come home to face Arizona State on Oct. 6 and Arizona the following night.