Last weekend’s trip to southern California was another step in the learning process for the Oregon volleyball team.
With nine freshmen on the roster, the Ducks will be experiencing plenty of firsts this year.
Despite taking their lumps against the nation’s elite — No. 8 UCLA and No. 1 USC — Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said he’s happy with the way the Ducks’ young athletes have handled everything that has come their way.
“For this particular group, every time you turn the page it’s a new chapter,” Ferreira said. “I’ve been really pleased with every single situation with which we’ve been presented and that’s awesome. Nobody has had the bug-eyed look about anything.”
One thing Ferreira said the Ducks are still working on is being able to stay competitive for an entire match. The Ducks were edged 33-31 in their second game against No. 4 Stanford on Sept. 19 and 36-34 in Friday’s third game against the Bruins, but were unable to play at a high level from start to finish.
“We’re looking to play a complete, competitive match,” Ferreira said. “We’ve played elite competitive games. Our
(quality) opponents have had something to do with us not playing that complete, competitive match.”

Transition process
Ferreira also said Oregon freshmen are now entering the third stage of what he called the “transition process.” The first two steps include the initial move away from home and competing at the collegiate level for the first time. The third and most difficult stage is dealing with the start of school and Pacific-10 Conference play.
Freshman outside hitter Sarah Mason isn’t having much of a problem with the third step.
“I love my schedule,” Mason said. “I have one class everyday except Tuesday. I like my classes and my teachers.”

Point system
Since NCAA volleyball has converted to rally scoring, player statistics are now kept through a point system. An athlete receives a point for a kill, a service ace and a solo block; and a half-point for a block assist. If a player finishes with 19 kills, two aces, three blocks and a block assist, for example, she would be credited with 24.5 points.
“It’s really just a language that we’re utilizing,” Ferreira said of the point system. “It’s a better language than saying kills. You’ve got 19 kills, what does that mean? I think everyone can identify with points.”