Oregon daily emerald., October 21, 1996, Page 9, Image 9

Volleyball: Game plan leads to win
■ Continued from Page 7
Amy Barnes, Alii White, Made
line Ernst and Pepe, and blocks by
Barnes, Stewart, White and
Christ, the Ducks went up 14-10.
The final point came on a
Beaver error as the server sent the
ball into the net. The Ducks were
awarded their 15th point and the
match victory.
Oregon, which had been disap
pointed so many times in the past,
could finally celebrate. Head
coach Cathy Nelson said the vic
tory couldn’t have come at a bet
ter time.
“This marks the half point of
our Pac-10 season,” she said. “1
think this was a match we knew
going in that we needed to win.
This is something to build on. We
have a lot of matches left in our
season, and this isn’t the culmi
nating activity of our season.
We’ve got other matches that we
want to go out and win, and if we
play like we played tonight, we
will win more matches.”
The Ducks’ game plan con
tributed to how well they played.
A midseason lineup change was
executed against the Beavers, and
Nelson said it was a factor in the
match’s victorious outcome.
“When we changed our lineup,
that made a big difference for [the
team],” she said. “They wanted to
know we were trying something
different; they wanted to know
we were trying to get the win. I
think mentally it made as much of
a difference as it did physically.
That was the biggest thing.”
Oregon rotated setters, making
sure that there were always three
hitters up front. Instead of having
two hitters and one setter up front
for half of the game, the rotation
gave the Ducks a better chance to
block the Beavers and get more
kills.
“We were actually thinking
about this three weeks ago before
the [NCAA] suspensions," Nelson
said. “Obviously the suspensions
made us put it on hold, but I think
it worked out really well that we
got to unveil it for Oregon State
because it helped us with what
they do well. They have a lot of
outside sets, so we needed to de
fend that better with our block.
With the new lineup, we always
had Madeline [Ernst] or Michelle
[Christ] on the right side, which
we knew was going to be some
thing that we needed to have.”
The new lineup meant Crisler,
who is usually the team’s full
time setter, was on the bench
more. This left the other half of
the setting duties to Lindsay May
er, who only played in six of the
Ducks' 18 matches this season.
Crisler said she had been prepar
ing mentally for sitting out half
the match.
“I had gone through it in my
head all week,” she said. “I was
pretty ready for it. It’s something
that’s going to happen, so there’s
nothing that I can do about it.
When I’m out there, I want to play
the best I can. And Lindsay’s the
same. I’m her biggest fan, and
she’s my biggest fan.”
Stewart, who led both teams
with 14 assisted blocks, said the
mental part of the game won it for
the Ducks.
“It was confidence,” she said.
“Everybody believed in one goal,
and we accomplished our goal.
We wanted to win. Our whole at
titude in the locker room was that
we were going to win. And when
you have that attitude, no matter
how down you get, you bring it
backup.”
The Ducks put up impressive
numbers all around. The team hit
.276 for the match, something
Nelson said she doesn’t think she
has seen in a conference game
since she took over as head coach.
White led both teams with a
.452 attack percentage, coming on
15 kills and only one error. She
not only had a career-high for
kills, but also had 12 assisted
blocks — another career high.
Michelle Christ also had a ca
reer night in both blocks (13 as
sisted) and kills (12).
The unusually large crowd was
not something the Ducks wanted
to be distracted by, but after the
win, both Nelson and the players
said they were happy with the
fans.
“I hope that [the crowd will]
come back,” Nelson said. “It was
a fun match for them to watch,
and they gave us a lot of energy
and a lot of fire. We try not to rely
on that, obviously, but it sure
helps when we’ve got it.”
“They were great,” Crisler said.
“That game point [in the fifth
game) was awesome when I was
standing back there serving, and
everybody was on their feet. I was
thinking ‘Oh yeah baby, this is
where I want to be.’ It was a real
rush.”
McTyre: Madden thanks Green for chance
■ Continued from Page 7
The second chance Green has
given Madden is something you
don’t see everyday at this level,
and Madden understands that.
“He told me if I wanted to be
part of this team, he’d step away
and let me figure it out during my
redshirt year,” Madden said. “I
thank him for doing that because
it helped me grow up a lot and
learn a lot of things. Being away
from basketball was probably the
best thing for me because it let
me concentrate on academics,
and it just helped me look at the
game and see what I would miss
if I wasn’t up here.”
The year away was tough for
Madden as he had to watch from
the sidelines.
“It was really hard to sit and
watch these guys battle and not
be able to be part of it,” Madden
said. “It was like sending every
body else off to the war field, but
you sit at home and watch it on
TV. It’s something you don’t
want to happen.”
As the year went on, Madden
became more comfortable with
his role on the team.
“At the beginning, I couldn’t
really sit where I was comfort
able,” Madden said. “But then I
felt [later on] the best spot for me
was on the bench being there
with the guys and trying to help
them keep their heads up and
keep on playing hard.”
Now with the 1996 season ap
proaching, Madden is ready to
redeem himself to his coach and
teammates. However, at the same
time he’s not wanting to become
a star; he just wants to contribute
to the team in any way possible.
“I’m just looking forward to
getting back on the court,” Mad
den said. “Whether I start or
come off the bench, it doesn’t re
ally concern me at this point. I’m
just looking forward to winning a
lot of games this year.”
With that type of attitude, it’s
obvious Green’s good faith has
worked, and he should be ap
plauded for it.
Mark McTyre is the sports editor
at the Emerald.
X-Country: Davis leads collegiate finishers
■ Continued from Page 7
myself the last couple days.”
The apprehension didn’t seem to bother Keska as
he went right to the lead and surged away from Irish
Olympian Cormac Finnerty through the final two
miles.
Keska said he was impressed with the team results
as well.
“The team is coming together so well,” Keska said.
“It’s incredible. I’m so proud of those guys. They’re
stepping up. They know what we have to do to be a
national contender.”
Oregon’s No. 2 through No. 5 runners performed
well, finishing within 16 seconds of each other.
Daniel Das Neves led the charge and flew through the
last mile to grab seventh place in 24:43. Sophomores
Nick Rogers (24:44) and Oliver Wirz (24:51), finished
in ninth and 11th place, while junior Greg James
(24:59) had his best race of the season to finish 15th.
“It felt good to feel like I finally had a breakthrough
race,” James said. “I’ve been training all summer,
feeling really fit. The races hadn’t been coming to
gether, and today it finally did.”
The 18th-ranked Oregon women ran well, but
were nipped by the No. 15 Washington Huskies 40
47 in the team competition.
Sophomore Marie Davis led the Ducks again this
week, finishing third overall, but was the first colle
giate competitor across the line in a time of 17:44.
“Marie went to the front for the first time against a
pretty good field and went for the win,” head coach
Tom Heinonen said.
Finishing closely behind Davis were sophomore
Heather McMahon (17:50) and junior Kaarin Knud
sen (17:57) in fourth and seventh place.
“Heather and Kaarin were as strong as ever, hav
ing good solid races and finishing strongly,”
Heinonen said.
Completing the scoring for the Ducks were fresh
man Robyn Sutherland (18:53) and senior Vickie
Fleschner (18:55) in 32nd and 34th. Oregon had five
other runners all finish between 37th and 89th.
Oregon has another two-week layoff to prepare for
the Pacific-10 Conference Championships Nov. 2 in
Palo Alto, Calif.
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