After coasting through the first two weeks of Pac-12 play, No. 15 Oregon will face its first real test of the conference season today when it visits No. 3 Washington.@@http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1@@
The Huskies (11-1, 3-1 Pac-12) handed No. 2 UCLA its only loss earlier this year and have dominated many of their opponents. With that in mind, Oregon coach Jim Moore will urge his team to, like the old cliche says, take it one point at a time.@@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/Volleyball/Standings.aspx@@
“Win the first play,” Moore said. “That really is it. I believe the only chance we have of being successful is can we be the most focused? We’re not physically the most gifted, we’re not the most talented, we’re not anything. We’ve been very good this year at focusing on the plays in front of us. So, the focus is the first play at Washington.”
The Ducks (11-1, 4-0 Pac-12) will need to maintain that focus over the duration of the match to have a shot against the Huskies, one of the most statistically dominant teams in the country. Washington has a team hitting percentage of .303 and averages 2.2 service aces per set, while limiting opponents to hitting .115.@@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html@@
“They’re a great serving team,” Moore said. “They’re a great all-around team. They serve well, they pass well, they have a system they believe in, and they’re No. 3 in the country.”
The system Washington employs might provide a platform for their success, but make no mistake — the Huskies are rich with talented players.
True freshman Krista Vansant, the consensus No. 1 recruit in the nation as a high school senior a year ago, might be the best first-year player in the country. She hits .329 and leads Washington with 134 kills. Kylin Munoz and Bianca Rowland have also been efficient on the attack, combining for 188 kills and hitting .276 and .321, respectively.
“They have great talent,” Oregon setter Lauren Plum said. “They’re a really talented team, very athletic, so it will be interesting to see what happens … they’re really good from everywhere.”
Though there are no easy games in Pac-12 play, the Ducks’ tilt with Washington State Saturday evening should be a more manageable task. The Cougars are only 9-5 (1-3 in conference play) and have losses to three unranked teams (Eastern Washington, Texas A&M and Arizona) on their resume.
Nonetheless, the Ducks know better than to take the Cougars lightly.
“They’re excited after they beat Arizona State (last weekend) and they’re going to be at home, so we’re going to have to make sure after the Washington game is over we worry about the first play at Washington State,” Moore said.
Of particular concern to Moore and the Ducks is Cougar senior Meagan Ganzer, who has emerged as one of the Pac-12’s top players despite being surrounded by marginal talent. This year, Ganzer leads Washington State in kills by a wide margin with 266, and is hitting .277.
Ganzer is such a dominant force on her team, however, that Oregon might be able to adjust its game plan to better contain her.
“She’s their go-to (player),” Moore said. “She was their go-to last year. You can key on her a little more than you can the players on Washington for sure, and hopefully we can slow her down.”
An additional wrinkle to the match is that Camryn Irwin, who signed with Oregon out of high school and played with the Ducks last season, is now the starting setter for the Cougars. Although Irwin didn’t provide a reason for the transfer, it’s speculated that lack of playing time (Irwin was behind Plum, who earned a berth on the Pac-10’s all-freshman team, on the depth chart) played a role in her choice.
“It’s going to be exciting, because Camryn transferred to Washington State, so I’m excited to play them,” middle blocker Ariana Williams said.