To borrow a line from Marvin Gaye, “Let’s get it on!”
After a 10-19 season, the Oregon volleyball team looks to improve on last year’s dismal play. But the Ducks, who went 2-16 last season in Pacific-10 Conference play, have some help in the form of two outstanding recruits and eight returning letterwinners.
Second-year head coach Carl Ferreira has begun to put his stamp on a program that has traditionally done poorly in conference play, and has gone a combined 3-33 the last two seasons. Junior middle blocker Stephanie Martin, the National Junior College Player of the Year from the College of Southern Idaho, is expected to come in and complement senior outside hitter Monique Tobbagi, who received an All-Pac-10 honorable mention selection last season. Also returning to the Ducks is junior setter Sydney Chute, one of four returning starters, who was fifth last season in the Pac-10 with 39 service aces.
“Stephanie is the No. 1 recruit in the country,” Ferreira said in a release. “She was highly recruited out of high school and is the caliber of athlete that we’re looking to attain. She’s not a freshman. She’s not going to be good tomorrow, she’s good today.”
Giving the Ducks depth on the outside will be the Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year, outside hitter Katie O’Neil. A member of the All-Mt. Hood Conference first team while starring at Gresham High School last season, O’Neil finished last season with 229 kills and 316 digs. While her role is yet to be defined, O’Neil will gain valuable experience at the college level.
But the heart and soul of the Ducks is Tobbagi. The San Jose, Calif., native led Oregon with 3.79 kills per game last season, and finished second to Chute’s 39 services aces with 26 of her own. This is her last chance to earn a trip to the NCAA tournament.
“Monique is a first-team Pac-10 caliber athlete with the potential to be an All-American” Ferreira said. “She’s an explosive offensive attacker with exceptional shot-making skills.”
Like last season when Ferreira took over the team, two major changes will come into effect for the Ducks in the 2001 season. A change in the team’s offense and the NCAA’s decision to change scoring rules will create a different game.
Last year’s 4-2 flex offense will be abandoned in favor of the traditional one-setter offense. In the old system, first initiated by Ferreira last season, two setters remained on the floor at all times.
Last year, Tobbagi was virtually alone on the floor, and was the Ducks main offensive weapon.
While she remains the Ducks main offensive force, the continued development and stellar play of junior Amanda Porter has allowed the Ducks to return to the more traditional offense. But because there is only one setter on the floor, Chute and senior Julie Gerlach will have to fight for the position.
Chute led the team in assists last season and is the front runner, but Gerlach will also battle to earn playing time. Both set career highs in assists last season, and look to better those marks this season.
“The setter position is one of our more dominant positions,” Ferreira said. “Sydney is on the verge of going to another level and Julie knows how valuable she is to our program.”
The next major change to occur this season comes from the NCAA. Side-out scoring has been eliminated, giving way to rally scoring. Points will now be awarded on every play, regardless of which team wins. The first four sets will play to 30, while the fifth will be unchanged and remains 15.
The Ducks utilized both new changes well, going 5-0 to start the season. After monopolizing the UTA Invitational, defeating Arkansas St., Texas-Arlington, North Carolina A&T and Arkansas-Little Rock, the team traveled to Edinburg, Tex. and handed Texas-Pan American its first loss of the season.
“We were able to look at film from the tournament and apply things we learned,” Ferreira said. “We were just trying to get one match better and any time you can go on the road and get five wins, that’s a good thing.”
As usual, the Pac-10 Conference looks to be one of the strongest in the nation. Led by the likes of Arizona, USC and UCLA — all of which finished last season in the top 10 in the USA Today Top 25 poll — the conference narrowly missed out on placing a team in the championship match when USC lost to Nebraska in the semifinals. Arizona and USC tied for the conference championship last season at 16-2, and are again the front-runners to repeat.