Oregon daily emerald., October 07, 1998, Page 9, Image 9

Ducks continue losing streak with loss to Pilots
Oregon,
looking for
an NCAA
tournament
berth, will
resume
Pac-10 play
Friday
against
Washington
By Allison Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
It appears there is a dark
cloud hovering above the Ore
gon volleyball team, suffocating
its chances for success.
The Ducks headed to Port
land last night with hopes of
ending a four-game losing
streak that began on Sept. 25.
But the woes continued with
the Ducks’ 15-9, 15-7, 13-15,
15-13 loss to the Pilots. Ore
gon’s record dropped to 6-10
overall, 1-4 in the Pacific-10
Conference, while the Pilots in
creased their overall record to
7-7,1-1 in the West Coast Con
ference.
It was a devastating blow for
the Ducks, who are in search of
an NCAA tournament berth
and were looking to gain mo
mentum before continuing Pac
10 play against Washington
this Friday.
“We are struggling to find a
rhythm,” Ore
VOLLEYBALL
gon head
coach Cathy
Nelson said.
"We are
struggling to
have a killer
instinct. It
has been difficult to find a way
to win. We had a very disap
pointing performance tonight
and really had a low point in
our season. It is a mental chal
lenge for our team to get over
this hump and to figure out
how to win.”
All-American candidate
Madeline Ernst led all attackers
with 26 kills but committed 15
errors for an overall attack per
centage of .200. Alii White and
Amy Banducci contributed 12
and 11 kills, respectively.
The Pilots had control of the
match, recording a .265 attack
percentage in Game 1 and a
.432 in Game 2, but then
slipped to a .161 in Game 3, al
lowing the Ducks to take the
win and avoid a sweep.
It was all middle blocker
Cathy Cook for the Pilots. She
recorded 21 kills and commit
ted only five errors for an
overall attack percentage of
.400. Five of the Pilots’ eight
players recorded kills in dou
ble digits.
Oregon managed to outblock
the Pilots 13 to 11 and outdig
them 62-59, but the Pilots’
overall attack percentage of
.266 and nine service aces di
minished the Ducks’ hopes of
coming away with the win.
Oregon finished the match with
an overall attack percentage of
.200.
“There is no place to go but
up,” Nelson said. “Hopefully
we will start to reverse our
trend this weekend in Wash
ington.”
Leaders
KILLS:
Ernst 26
White 12
ASSISTS:
Gertach 58
DIGS:
Banducci 13
Minion 10
Thompson
leads resurgent
Cougar defense
Thompson establishes himself as
the best cover-safety in the
Pac-10 without losing perspective
By Joel Hood
Oregon Daily Emerald
The best cover-safety in the Pacific-10
Conference loves poetry.
Don’t mention a word of this to his
Washington State teammates, but the best
cover-safety in the Pac-10 has even tried
writing poetry himself.
It happened four years ago when Lam
ont Thompson enrolled in a lOth-grade
English class at El Cerrito High School
outside Oakland, Calif.
It must have seemed strange to others
that Thompson — who at the time was
being heavily recruited by some of the top
college football programs on the West
Coast — could enjoy detailing his fond
est childhood memories in such a deli
cate fashion.
But it wasn’t strange for Thompson. He
liked it.
And if it were socially acceptable for
Cougar defensive backs to admit they like
to read poetry, the best cover-safety in the
Pac-10 would probably bring a collection
of Maya Angelou’s poems with him to
practice every day.
“My teammates think it’s kind of odd,”
the 6-foot-l, 204-pound Thompson says.
“I really used to be into it when I was
younger. But now I just don’t bring it up
around the guys.”
Besides, when you’re the best cover
safety in the Pac-10, there are plenty of
other things to talk about.
Only 11 games into his collegiate ca
reer, Thompson has already nabbed 10
interceptions. To put that into perspec
tive, the all-time Cougar mark is only 14.
As a true freshman a year ago, Thompson
led the Pac-10 with six interceptions by
beating out UCLA’s Larry Atkins and Ari
zona State’s Mitchell Freedman, both of
whom are considered possible first
round NFL draftees this April.
Even more impressive, Thompson
started four critical games down the
stretch for the Cougars during Washing
Turn to THOMPSON, Page 12
Washington State
The Daily Evergreen
Lament Thompson was a Key performer in Washington State's Rose Bowl run last season. He ranks first in the
Pac-10 with two interceptions this season.
Croskrey
leads Ducks
to podium
Duck men take first in Corvallis,
while the Oregon women slip to
eighth in Bama Preview
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
In what head coach Steve Nosier called a
balanced team effort, the Oregon men’s golf
team tied for First place in the Northwest
Classic in Corvallis Tuesday with a final
score of 856.
The Oregon women weren’t so fortunate,
dropping to eighth overall in the prestigious
Bama Fall Preveiw with a first-round score
of 309.
By placing first in the Northwest Classic,
the men topped all other teams for the sec
ond straight Invitational. The victory was a
true team effort, Nosier said.
At the conclusion of Monday’s 36-hole
competition, the men were tied for third
place, trailing leader UCLA by only four
strokes.
The men climbed out
from their stroke deficit on
Tuesday, led by Derek
Croskrey’s three-round to
tal of 212, to tie for first
place along side UCLA
and Washington. UCLA
eventually won the tournament in a playoff
on the 16th hole.
“Everybody hung in really well, the kids
gutted it out,” Nosier said. "Derek played
extremely well, but everybody contributed."
Croskrey’s score earned him a three-way
share in sixth place, and Andrew Tredway
tied for 12th with 215. Ryan Lavoie and Ben
Crane both finished 17th overall with scores
of 216, and Adrian Burtner finished 26th.
The Ducks’ goal is to come out solid in
each invitational this season. So far, that is
exactly what they have done, finishing third
in their first invitational on Sept. 21 and tak
ing home first in the final two.
“So far I’m really impressed,” Nosier said.
“I would love to have taken first in the one
we placed third in, but we played well. We
haven’t done anything we haven’t expected
to do.”
Brigham Young finished fourth in Corval
lis with a score of 858, and San Diego State
finished in fifth place with a score of 860.
The individual champion was UCLA’s B.J.
Schlagenhauf, who finished eight-under
par with a score of 208.
Turn to GOLF, Page 12