Being a freshman on a Division I team is never easy, though Oregon volleyball’s Neticia Enesi has been living up to the team’s expectations of her – even with the occasional freshman miscues.
The highly touted recruit from The Dalles, Ore., has had to adjust to the level of play while also learning a new position. Enesi made herself a star from the middle hitter position in high school, and is now one of the Ducks’ outside hitters.
“I knew I had to come in and bring what I had,” Enesi said. “I’ve been struggling a lot, but that’s part of learning, and I know I need to keep working hard at it and keep going.”
While it has been a steep learning process for Enesi, her teammates and coaches have already taken notice of her as one of the team’s more improved players.
“She’s grown a lot as a player,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said. “She came in and she’s playing a position she’s never played before in her life and she’s getting better everyday.”
Both Moore and senior Erin Little, a fellow outside hitter, have seen Enesi develop every aspect of her game: confidence, shot choices, aggressiveness and consistency.
Her performance thus far has been admirable considering the adjustments she’s had to make. Her 100 kills are good for fourth on the team, along with her 3.11 points per game.
“She’s been developing into one of our strong hitters,” freshman middle blocker Sonja Newcombe said. “It’s a new position for her, and she’s really been working on that. Just to have that stable point from the outside is what we’ve been working on for her.”
While those offensive statistics are expected from an outside hitter, it’s Enesi’s defense that’s impressed her coaches and teammates the most.
“It always surprises me all the balls she’s blocked,” Little said. “It doesn’t seem like she’s going to get it, then all of a sudden she has it.”
Enesi said that all of the things she’s learned can be attributed to the seniors helping her get through the usual freshman rough patches. Little said that, while she and Enesi make similar mistakes, she is trying to make sure Enesi learns from both of their errors.
“A lot of her bad habits are my bad habits,” Little said. “We kind of work off each other and remind each other ‘get your feet there and block it’.”
Limiting those mistakes will be the key for Enesi and the Ducks (11-2 overall, 1-2 Pac-10) this weekend against Washington (12-3, 2-2) and Washington State (12-6, 0-4).
No. 5 Washington is coming off weekend losses to both UCLA and USC and was leapfrogged by the Trojans in the national poll. Moore expects the Huskies to come out ready to avenge those losses.
“Washington is going to be possessed,” Moore said. “We need to win the matches we’re supposed to and beating Washington (in Seattle) is not necessarily one we’re going to. We don’t need to emotionally invest in that match.”
Moore said the team does, however, need to emotionally invest in their game against Washington State as both teams figure to have a shot in an equal contest.
“It’ll be a battle. They believe they can beat us,” Little said.
During practice Moore emphasized cutting down team errors, saying that Washington will make mistakes if the Ducks keep their game as mistake-free as possible.
He criticized the team for appearing to be in a lull after it had gained a lead against the defense in practice. It was a similar situation when Oregon had a 2-0 lead against Oregon State and then lost game three of the match.
“You don’t get to relax,” Moore said. “You can’t say we’ve got this.”
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