CAFe NAVARRO S Specializing in Latin & Caribbean Cuisine t Seafood, Meat and Meatless Dishes Now Serving a Traditional Spanish Style 5 Tapas Menu on Sundays from 5:30 - 9 p.m. J 454 Willamette St. 344-0943 c pipeline I Any 16 n 9 .• I I ! Two Item Pizza J | Plus Two (2) FREE 22 oz. Soft Drinks I I low 2 convenient Eugene/Springfield loc 14 Charnelton St, Eugene 3831 Main St., Spi 686-5808 746*7666 Not valid with any other offer. Limited delivery area. Expires 9/1 This is the last summer issue of the Oregon Daily Emerald We’ll be back September 21st with Back to the Books the fall orientation issue 1998 Oregon Volleyball Preview EMERALD Senior outside hitter Madeline Ernst unit lead the Ducks as co-captain along unth fellow senior Alii White. Ernst was named the team’s most valuable player last year after leading the squad in kills with 363 Volleyball: White, Ernst lead UO rebirth ■ Continued from Page 7 wanted the season to be over with.” Although ten new faces will be joining Ernst and four other re turning players, the future looks bright. “Cathy is feeling really good this year. She’s in her own and that’s because these are her re cruits,” Ernst said. Perhaps the brightest spot comes from the return of 6-foot senior Alii White. White was sidelined with a knee injury ear ly in the season — an injury that kept her from competing in the first nine games. She briefly re turned only to re-aggravate a shoulder injury, causing her to miss the remaining games of the season. This year she will be vital to the program as a middle blocker and as co-captain alongside Ernst. "I think that’s one of the most critical parts of our team being successful this season is having Alii White healthy,” Nelson said. White’s 1996 season is proof of what she can do. She was the only player to start all 31 match es, accumulating 120 total blocks, 284 kills, 246 digs and 17 service aces. Last year was tough for a play er like White to watch. Certainly she would have contributed. “It was really difficult last year,” White said. “It’s hard to think about the past, but it opened my eyes to the attitude and the personalities on the court and what I could change for this year.” ERNST witn so many new players be ing incorporat ed, it’s difficult to determine what the strengths of this year's team will be. “It takes a while to get everyDoay up to speed in your system. What we’re dealing with right now is trying to get all the WHITE young people 10 understand ex actly what we want technical ly, exactly what we want tacti cally and then putting them into play,” Nel son said. But these are Nelson s recruits, and she knows that they are capable of being an integral part of this team. “In terms of their physical abil ity, they’re great and there are definitely some instant-impact players,” Nelson said. “Right now Julie Gerlach, who is a setter from Arizona, is our starting set ter as a freshman.” Another new part of the pro gram is the addition of assistant coach Revis Ward-Daggett. A for mer head coach at Oral Roberts, Ward-Daggett led her 1995 squad to the NCAA tournament where they were eliminated in the Elite Eight by Stanford. Her six-year record was 105-85. “What I like about Revis is that she’s been a head coach for years," Nelson said. “When she’s in the gym she can realiy identi fy weaknesses and knows how to improve those. That’s what you want every assistant coach to have.” With the experience of the se niors, the potential of the fresh men and last year out of their sys tem, the Ducks have only one thing on their mind: the NCAA tournament. They are confident that there is a spot waiting for them this year. “I have a pretty good feeling we’ll get to the tournament,” White said. “It’s amazing, the lev el we’re at right now is probably our peak level that we were at all year last season.” Coach Nelson agrees. “I’m going to come right out and say it,” Nelson said. “That’s what we’re training for, that’s what we’re playing for this year, and we’re going to work our rears off to make sure that happens.” 1998 Oregon Volleyball Schedule Date Opponent Time Sept. 1 Portland St. 7 p.m. Sept 4-5, Nike Invitational Sept. 4 N. Arizona 12p.m Cal Poly SLO 7:30 p.m. Sept. 5 Denver 12 p.m. Fresno St. 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7 Utah St. 5 p.m. Sept, 11-12, Minnesota Nike Invitational Sept. 11 Minnesota 8 p.m. Sept. 12 Missouri 10 a.m. Wake Forest 6 p.m. Sept. 18 Oregon St. 7 p.m. Sept. 23 @Cal State Fullerton 7 p.m. Sept. 25 @UCLA 7 p.m. Sept. 27 @USC 11a.m. Oct. 2 Arizona St. 7 p.m. Oct. 4 Arizona 1 p.m. Oct. 6 ©Portland 7 p.m. Oct. 9 ©Washington 7 p.m. Oct. 11 ©Washington St. 1 p.m. Oct. 16 California 7 p.m. Oct. 18 Stanford 1p.m. Oct. 22 USC 7 p.m. Oct. 25 UCLA 1 p.m. Oct. 30 ©Arizona 7 p.m. Nov. 1 ©Arizona St. 11a.m. Nov. 6 Washington St. 7 p.m. Nov. 8 Washington 1 p.m. Nov. 13 ©Stanford 7 p.m. Nov. 15 ©California 1p.m. Nov. 20 ©Oregon St. 7pm Nov. 27-28 LBSU Thanksgiving Tournament Nov. 27 vs. Oral Roberts 5 p.m. Nov. 28 vs. Illinois St. 12 p.m.