Preview: Exhibitions
strengthen Ducks’ squad
“I think we did things pretty
well considering we’ve had
only 20 practices,” head coach
Jody Runge said, “but yet it is
good to play because I think at
this point the kids think they
are good because they are run
ning against an offense that they
know defensively and they can
cheat.”
Oregon’s first preseason game
gave Runge an opportunity to
evaluate her team’s early
progress.
“I think we need to do a better
job of defending the ball, boxing
out and rebounding,” Runge
said. “We need to improve our
free-throw shooting; we need to
improve running our offense
and being productive in it.”
Guard Lisa Bowyer also said
the Ducks can improve on their
performance against Slovan Slo
vakia.
“I think just executing our of
fense a bit better, feeding our
posts because we didn’t do that
really well on Saturday night,”
Bowyer said.
But Runge said now is a good
time to play games that won’t
count on the Ducks’ record be
cause they will have time to im
prove before the regular season
begins.
“It is a good time for us to have
exhibition games now because
we have a couple of weeks left of
practice, and when you just
practice and practice, it gets
kind ofboring,” Runge said.
“But when you have exhibi
tion games, you have an oppor
tunity to take a look at yourself
on film and identify some things
that we need to work on and pre
sent new motivation for working
hard in the next two weeks. ”
Boyer, who has been involved
in her share of preseason games
during her four years at Oregon,
looks forward to exhibition
games.
“Exhibition games are a good
warm up to real games,” Boyer
said. “It is where we can go in
and judge how the first four
weeks of practice have been and
take a reading of that and see the
things that we need to work on. ”
Runge said that Boyer,
Bowyer, Fegent, guard Cindie
Edamura and forward Mendy
Benson will repeat as the starters
for the Ducks’ second game of
the season.
After tonight’s game, the
Ducks will return to practice for
two more weeks before opening
their regular season with the
Pepsi Shootout at McArthur
Court Nov. 29.
The Ducks will open the
Shootout against Idaho State.
Player: Mentality keeps her competitve
■ Continued from Page 7
her make the transition. While at
Los Gatos she collected a state
championship, two-time all
league selection and the most
valuable player award on the
team her senior year.
“It was overwhelming,” White
said. "Fortunately, I came from a
pretty experienced club team. We
won the Junior Olympics that
summer. Playing at a higher level
I think helped, but definitely the
Pac-10 is like nothing else.”
White is an intense competitor
on the court, but she explains that
it’s her preparation for the game
off of the court that helps her com
pete at a highly consistent level.
“I tell everyone and 1 believe
that volleyball is 99 percent men
tal and so a lot of it has to do with
my mental focus,” White said.
"Before the game I have some
cheesy routines that I do. I do
everything in a certain order. I lis
ten to a certain tape that has all of
the music that I like on it.
“Before [a home game] I come
to the gym, I go through the game
in my head. If I do that before
every game I know that the pat
tern helps me, it gives me a little
edge confidence-wise. I’m defi
nitely superstitious. I always tie
my right shoe before I tie my left
shoe.”
Whether it has been supersti
tions or rituals that have helped
White with her game, they have
definitely been working. White
nearly had a triple double in the
Ducks’ win over Oregon State this
season. She finished the game
with 15 kills, 12 blocks and nine
digs against the Beavers. Her per
sonal best of 12 blocks in one
match was also the third-best all
time performance by an Oregon
player. White has also had career
bests in almost every category this
season, including kills (19 vs We
ber State), kill attempts (44 vs Ari
zona) and digs (21 vs Arizona
State).
She is also leading the team in
total blocks (99) and has tallied
223 kills and 191 digs on the sea
son, putting her numbers among
those at the top on the squad.
All of her success is more or
less planned out, she says. Goal
setting has played a major part in
determining a course for her ca
reer and so far she is on the right
path.
“I don’t think that the people
on my team realize how much
goes on in my head outside of the
gym,” White said. “I set goals for
myself, I write down a lot of
things and I think that contributes
to all of [my success],
"I know that I have to compete
for my spot on the court. I don’t
know how much people realize
that. I put a lot of pressure on my
self to do well and I expect that of
myself. I know that it’s going to be
tough but I think that writing
down those goals or having them
in my head really helps.”
White, along with the help of
her teammates, hopes to bring
winning back to the Oregon vol
leyball program and bring fans
back into McArthur Court to
cheer on the team.
“I think that overall we’ve im
proved so much,” White said.
“Even though we don’t have those
wins. People aren’t seeing it be
cause they aren’t seeing those
wins.”
As far as playing in front of
large crowds, the Ducks got a taste
of that this year when they played
in front of nearly 4,000 fans at
Mac Court for their match against
Oregon State. White enjoyed the
experience.
“That was the best feeling I’ve
had since I have been here,”
White said. “All the fans were
awesome. It was like a feeling that
I’ve never had. I would get so jeal
ous when I went to women’s bas
ketball games when I saw all of
those people, but volleyball is a
sport that’s really growing, so
hopefully that will help.”
White and her teammates only
have four more matches before
the end of the season, starting
with their match against the Uni
versity of Portland tonight. The
Ducks defeated the Pilots in three
games in their first meeting earlier
in the season.
The game will be Oregon’s last
non-conference match before fin
ishing out the season with three
league matches.
DeYoung: Both Stanford teams should be strong contenders
■ Continued from Page 7
conference, and the Associated Press
. ^named the Cardinal as No. 1 in the coun
'ffyinits priweasdn poll. Guess who that
puts the pressure on? Stanford.
The Cardinal was thought to be a con
tender for the NCAA title last season, and
this season it has added pressure coming
through on that expectation.
The Ducks were picked to finish sec
ond. That’s a pretty good spot. And it’s a
realistic spot, too. There is no team that
can beat Oregon when the Ducks are play
ing at the top of their game, and the experi
ence of these players who have played to
gether all last season can only help.
Runge recognizes that her team is a title
contender.
“The first two years of going to the Tour
nament were great,” Runge said in an in
terview during the summer. “But three in
a row means we are building a tradition.
We’re done playing for second place. We
think we can challenge Stanford for the
league title.”
On the men’s side, UCLA was picked
first in the Pac-10 by the coaches, but one
of the coaches who voted isn’t around any
££
The Ducks were picked to finish second.
That’s a pretty good spot. And it’s a realisitc
spot, too. There is no team that can beat
Oregon when the Ducks are playing at the
top of their game, and the experience of
these players who have played together all
last season can only help.
-99
more. And that happened to be the Bruins’
coach—Jim Harrick. How can a team
dominate the conference when it loses its
head coach with two weeks to go before it
takes the court? Interim coach Steve Lavin
might have to sit back and let the team
come together to find what it takes to win.
On the other hand, a strong head coach is a
must for a team that has yet to play a com
petitive game together.
The rest of the Pac-10 falls into place in
the poll with Arizona picked for second
place and Stanford in third. Head coach
Jerry Green agrees that these three teams
will be the ones to beat.
“Looking at the league overall, I think
that you’ve got to look at UCLA,” Green
said early last month. “I think they won
the league last year by about two games,
and basically have everybody back. But
they’re not very deep. They’ve got enough
talent to win the league. They’re certainly
going to be an NCAA team.
“I have to believe Arizona is going to be
good with the recruiting class they have.
With the tradition and players they’ve got,
I think Arizona is going to be better later in
the year than in the beginning of the year.
“Stanford has the potential of being a
better team than most people think. All
the publications think that Brevin Knight
is one of the two best point guards in the
nation and an NBA prospect. I think Stan
ford can be very good.”
The Ducks were picked by the coaches
to finish fourth. This could be a very good
thing for Oregon. This team finished tied
for fifth in the conference last season and
still is trying to prove that it belongs with
the other teams atop the standings. The
Ducks’ placement isn’t a lack of respect,
although you would never know it after
the NIT selection committee passed them
up even though they won seven of their
last 10 games last season. Anytime a team
brings all its starters back, it deserves to be
counted as a contender for the conference
championship. The Ducks should be
there, and as long as they believe that they
can be there, they will be.
McArthur Court has the potential to
showcase some excellent basketball this
season. The Pac-10 season is a month and
a half away, but the countdown for April
begins right now.
Andrea DeYoung is the assistant sports
editor for the Emerald, Her views do not
necessarily represent those of the paper.
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