The Oregon volleyball team is looking to get over the hump, looking for that one last quality that will propel it to victory No. 2 in Pacific-10 Conference play.
Matches against No. 16 Arizona and Arizona State couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Ducks travel to the desert for their final road trip of the season, taking on the Wildcats in Tucson on Friday, with a start time of 6 p.m. On Saturday, they travel to Tempe and duel with the Sun Devils.
Oregon, which has been playing some of its best volleyball all season last week in losses to USC and UCLA, was one game away from defeating Arizona State earlier this season. The Ducks (11-17 overall, 1-13 Pac-10) were no match for Arizona (13-9, 8-6) the night before, but look to avenge their poor showing.
“I think our offense and defense are in a lot more sync right now,” sophomore Lauren Westendorf said. “We’re getting a lot of digs, which we’re transitioning into points, and our passing is great.”
Against the Sun Devils, the Ducks used timely scoring and a stingy defense to force Arizona State (10-9, 6-8) to five games. Oregon eventually lost what was a heartbreaking match.
The difference for Oregon this time is that the Ducks have been more consistent on a match-to-match basis recently. Before their previous match against the Sun Devils, the Ducks had played well just once in Pac-10 play, in a five-game loss to California.
Since losing to Arizona State, the Ducks have again taken California to the limit, defeated Oregon State for their first Pac-10 win of the season, and despite bowing out early against USC, played consistently against one of the best teams in the nation.
“I don’t want to get satisfied without success,” head coach Carl Ferreira said. “I don’t want anyone on our team to get used to just being satisfied with playing very well. We actually want to beat a top-20 team, and we think we’re getting very close to being able to get to that level. The great thing about this Pac-10 volleyball conference is nobody is going to open the door for us.”