Jeffrey Stockton Emerald
Julie Gerlach and Halie Mazza leap to block ASU’s Jami Coughlin.
Volleyball
Continued from Page 9A
attempts in games 1 and 2 —
committed an untimely ser
vice error, giving the ball back
to the Devils.
The ball traded hands
twice more before Arizona
State put the game away with
three straight points.
Game 4 wasn’t even close.
Oregon’s only point was pro
duced on a kill by Pogue on
the Ducks’ second possession.
“I can’t say exactly what
happened,” Nelson said of
her team’s collapse. “I’m
guessing it was the close one
affected them, but in my
mind, you just play volleyball
regardless of what has hap
pened."
Despite the loss, Oregon
was pleased the Ducks were
slapped with a crushing
three-game defeat.
“This was really important
to us because when we
played Arizona State in Ari
zona, we really did not play
our best volleyball,” Norton
said. “It was nice to come out
here and show them how we
actually can play.”
Pogue replaced Heather
Gilmore early in game 1 and
led all scorers with 17 kills.
Halie Mazza collected 14 kills
and committed just one error
for a .542 attack percentage.
Julie Gerlach served most
of the game and finished with
50 assists and 6 kills.
Jami Coughlin led Arizona
State with 16 kills and three
errors, and Laura Hibsman
and Peck had 13 kills apiece.
Tonight’s matchup with
Arizona should be more diffi
cult. The Wildcats have won
three of four games in Novem
ber and are 5-2 in Pac-10 road
matches. On Sept. 17, Ari
zona handed the Ducks„their
third loss of the season.
“Arizona’s a good team,”
Nelson said. “It’s going to be
a heck of a challenge. We
know it’s our last match of the
year. I think we’re going to go
out and come out like crazy
and go for it.”
Double Trouble
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Free Admission with
Student ID
Young Ducks learning to win
■ Oregon is hoping for peak
performances from its
wrestlers at the Southern
•Oregon Open this weekend
By Brett Williams
Oregon Daily Emerald
Do they know the truth about
their youth?
The Ducks have six wrestlers
who are new to the Division I-A
level and two new starters. Re
gardless, quite a few questions
were answered during their wins
at UC Davis and Stanford two
weeks ago.
Oregon will learn more about its
potential when it travels to Ash
land to compete in the Southern
Oregon Open on Saturday.
The 11-team tournament seeds
the top-six wrestlers overall, and
then uses a blind draw to deter
mine who will compete. Oregon
head coach Chuck Kearney said it
is "similar to the NCAA Tourna
ment.”
Kearney, who is keeping the
same starting lineup as he had in
the Ducks’ first match, said that
because it is an
individual tour
nament and no
team scores will
be kept, Oregon
players could
find themselves
wrestling one another.
“Sometimes our wrestlers meet
each other and the backup beats
the starter,” said Kearney, who
plans to bring about 20 wrestlers
on the trip. “It’s a great opportuni
ty to evaluate our wrestlers. ”
Foes Portland State, Boise State
and Oregon State are among the
competition at the Open.
Individually, Oregon’s Leif
WRESTLING
Williams will have a tough match
on his hands against the defend
ing national champion.
Kearney said Ducks welcome
the chance to wrestle against the
best.
“We want to wrestle the top
ranked wrestlers any time we
can,” Kearney said.
Kearney was also pleased with
the freshman Jason Harliss and
Eric Webb who made their pres
ence felt in their first matches.
Harliss won at 125 pounds and
Webb was victorious ir the heavy
weight division.
“They made some freshman
mistakes,” Kearney said. “But
they both won and wrestled well.”
The Ducks might be without the
services of Harliss this weekend.
Muscle spasms in his back have
hampered his performance since
his last match.
Steve Fein
Continued from Page 9A
they also were developing a spe
cial coach-athlete bond.
“It was a big deal for me to
have the type of relationship that
I wanted with a coach, which
was an individual one,” Fein
said. “Martin carries small teams,
which gives him extra time to
mold each individual into the
type of runner he should be. That
was something that I enjoyed a
lot of success with at Wisconsin.”
Fein’s bond with Smith was
tested prior to the 1998 season.
Oregon was looking for a replace
ment to Bill Dellinger and Smith
turned out to be the man. With
two years left to run, he didn’t
want to have to adapt to a whole
new system.
“I was in a position where the
reason that I chose to go to Wis
consin was for him, and he was
n’t there anymore,” Fein said.
“As soon as I found out he went
Oregon, I thought, wow, I could
be a Duck.”
The decision for Fein to
change his surroundings for the
sake of his coach humbled
Smith, a former two-time NCAA
Cross Country Coach of the Year.
“It is certainly an incredible
compliment and makes you feel
very special,” Smith said. “He’s a
very good person, the type of per
son you can trust. When he came
to Oregon, it furthered my com
mitment to him as an athlete, and
as a friend.”
Last year, in his transition year
from Madison, Wise., to Eugene,
he captured his second harrier.
All-American award with an
18th-place finish at nationals
while leading his team to fifth
place. He returned in even better
his senior year, leaving his com
petitors in his dust and his team
mates in awe.
“Sometimes I just look at him
and go ‘damn,’” senior co-captain
Andrew Bliss said. “It’s inspira
tional to me when I realize I’m
running with the best runner in
the country.”
With short-term goals such as
the national championship and
long-term goals such as the
Olympic trials in July, Fein’s
time at Oregon is winding down,
but neither he nor his coach is
looking back.
“Whenever you get such a spe
cial athlete you count your bless
ings and be sure not to waste it,”
Smith said.
But fair warning, if Fein does
capture the national champi
onship on Monday, let him be.
Let him enjoy his success by
allowing him to simply be one of
the faces in the crowd. .
SNOWBOARD OR SKI MT. BACHELOR
for credit!
(Note “e” in the Winter Schedule is incorrect. We ARE going to Bachelor.)
Enjoy 7 Thursdays at Oregon's premiere ski resort!
MDt* Bachelor, Oregon’s world class ski resort, has super-fast quad lifts, the best
ski school in the region, terrain for everyone and the best snow in the Northwest. All this
and no lift lines!
To Sign Up check page 101 of the Schedule of Classes for course offerings. Students
wanting credit should sign up using “DUCK CALL”. Non-students or students who do not
want credit should sign up at the PARS office at 102 Esslinger.
The FCC of $389 includes lift tickets, instruction and transportation with Oregon
Coach ways on large, comfortable buses.
The First Meeting is Thursday, January 6 at 3:30pm in 133 Gilbert.
BE THERE if you are enrolled or would like to enroll!
For More
Information
contact Michael Strong at
346-1048 or stop by the
Outdoor Pursuits Program
office at 186A Esslinger.
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/ ~opp/winter/assb.htm
PARS
Physical Activity and
Recreation Services