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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1981)
Oregon spikers seek Pepsi spirit Ducks host tourney, boast improved play By MIKE RIPLINGER Ot tha Enwratd When you're the defending champion of your own tournament, you should be fairly confident of triumphing once again But when a new team is entered that beat you earlier in the year, and has currently lost only one match this season, you have reason to have your confidence shaken a little This is the case for the Oregon volleyball team as they host the Diet Pepsi Classic. Friday and Saturday in MacArthur Court Sacramento State,the new team to the tournament has caused Oregon coach, Chris Voelz, to quaver a little when talking about this weekend "This year's field is much stronger than ever before, especially with the addition of Sac State They are a very strong team, and we'll have to be ready for them," said Voelz Voelz has reason to be concerned Sacramento State won the Division III national title last year, and swept the Ducks in three matches earlier this sea son After moving up to Division II this year, the Hornets have reached the number one ranKing Unlike most Division II teams, they haven’t just stayed in their division, but have beaten a number of Division I teams in the process Oregon, 9-22-2 on the season, will also have to face Santa Clara (10-6) and Cal State Fullerton (8-10) ’ All three teams are stong,” Voelz said, "So it's not like we can just concentrate on Sac State and forget about the others It should prove to be a very competitive tournament " Oregon appears to be ready for the tourney They are playing their best ball of the year, according to Voelz, with their improved defense primarily responsible for this surge "Our coverage is much better We are reacting and moving toward the ball quicker than ever before If we continue to improve like this, it should give us two to three more points a game, something we can really use.” Voelz pointed out that such a margin would have made a difference in Oregon’s loss to 15th-ranked Washington last weekend, where the Ducks lost each game by two points Middle hitter, Karen Beamer, leads the Ducks' charge on defense Her recovery from a knee injury coincides with the resurgence of the Duck's play of late She is second to Cathy Hill in the team blocking department, 97 to 106, despite being out for three weeks Hill, the workhorse on the team according to Voelz, has an exceptional hitting average of 315 Together with Cathy Lubahn, who is hitting at a 258-clip, they give Oregon a front line that can play with anybody Also, setters Therese Cooper and Tamara Chambers have been playing "much, much better and enable us to play more cohesive as a unit," Voelz said "We have progressed a lot in the last month Our last two weeks of play have been looking very good, and we want to keep building on that " "We've had some good individual matches in the past, but they were always surrounded by not so-good efforts We want to continue to improve each time out. and this weekend gives us an excel lent opportunity to do so We are trying to get away from the yo-yo effect, and this weekend should be a start " LA cheered NY berated NEW YORK (AP) - The Los Angeles Dodgers returned home to a heroes' welcome Thursday, while New York Yankees owner George Stein brenner considered a World Series he couldn't afford to for get About 10,000 exuberant fans greeted the Dodgers at Los Angeles International Airport Thursday morning The Dodgers had beaten the Yankees 9-2 Wednesday night to claim their first World Series title since 1965 four games to two Several hours afterward and some 3,000 miles to the east, Steinbrenner held court in his office at Yankee Stadium His purpose was to make clear that he alone, took responsibility for the Yankees defeat, and he apologized “The only way failure can be acceptable is if you learn from it You can sit and say, ‘We ll get them next time,’ but that's not good enough," the owner said “You have to replace words with deeds ” The Dodgers won the Series after losing the first two games at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week by scores of 5-3 and 3-0 Los Angeles won the next three at home — 5-4, 8-7 and 2-1 — and the Dodgers trounced the Yankees Wednesday behind the hitting of Pedro Guerrero Afterward, Steinbrenner is sued a public apology that read, in part: “I want to sincerely apologize to the people of New York and to fans of the New York Yankees everywhere for the performance of the Yankee team in the World Series I also want to assure you that we will be at work immediately to prepare tor 1982 " When he heard about the printed statement, Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson re sponded angrily: “I apologize, I apologize, I apologize Well, I don't apologize for anything I'm sorry we didn't win, but we tried our best.” Steinbrenner took exception “I made the apology to the fans, that I was genuinely sorry we didn’t do better in the World
