. . n , . LAURA GOSS/Emerald
Anrne Pogue warms up during practice prior to the Ducks showdown with Oregon State on Sept. 18.
By Allison Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
Last year, during Ore
gon volleyball home
games, Annie Pogue sat
patiently and watched.
During the away games,
she sat patiently by the
phone.
“I’d stay home on the
traveling weekends and
I’d get a call from my
teammates,” Pogue
said. “They would say,
‘We lost, but I know we
can win tomorrow. ’ ”
But the Ducks would
usually return without a win, and
eventually the calls stopped. It
was the season that Oregon was
supposed to turn volleyball into a
winning program.
“It was frustrating because
when I first came here I knew the
program was on its way up, but I
knew it was about as low as it
could be,” Pogue said. "I was fired
up because I thought I could be a
part of something really big here
for Oregon volleyball.”
Pogue arrived to Oregon fresh
from a senior season in which she
led Del Mar High School to the Cal
ifornia Coast Section (CCS) title
and was named CCS most valuable
player. The year before, Pogue and
her team won the CCS title for tire
first time in school history.
Her high school success gave
her the confidence she needed to
compete at the Pacific-10 Confer
ence level, but playing with new
After a frustrating season on the
bench, Annie Pogue expects to help
lead the team this year
not enjoyed in her first
three seasons as Ore
gon’s head coach. Al
though Pogue was re
cruited by Nelson, the
decision to redshirt her
was something that
will benefit Oregon
down the road.
“[Annie] improved
leaps and bounds dur
ing her redshirt year in
terms of some of her
skills and abilities, and
although her exact role
for us this vear is unrpr
players on a new court was a lot
for the 6-foot freshman.
"As we got into practice, I guess
mentally it was hard for me to get
used to playing with a new team,
and 1 didn’t have a lot of confidence
anymore," Pogue said. “It was just
hard for me to adjust to playing
with a new group of players. I was
quiet on the court, so 1 wasn’t hav
ing a chance to make an impact. ”
While Pogue was having diffi
culties adjusting, head coach
Cathy Nelson was looking for
players who were ready to take the
program to the next level. She
made the decision to redshirt
Pogue for the 1997 season.
“It was evident that I wasn’t go
ing to be able to make a huge im
pact,” Pogue said.
With last year far behind Pogue
and her new teammates, Oregon
has a new perspective. This team
consists only of players that Nel
son recruited, something she had
tain, we are going to
want to get her on the court as
much as possible,” Nelson said.
Pogue is considered a freshman
in terms of eligibility, but that ex
tra year of waiting and watching
has her anxious to perform.
"1 don’t really consider myself a
freshman,” Pogue said. ‘Tve put a
lot of pressure on myself so far be
cause I really want to make an im
pact this year. I had to watch all
last year and not really do any
thing.”
While it was frustrating for
Pogue to come to Oregon ready for
battle, only to be sidelined for a
year, she realizes the benefits of a
redshirt year. Senior co-captain
and team leader in kills thus far,
Madeline Ernst, spent her fresh
man year just as Pogue did.
With some Pac-10 experience be
hind her and four seasons to go,
Pogue is on track to be a vital part in
turning this Oregon program around.
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