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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 2000)
Tuesday Best Bet MLB: Texas vs. Seattle 7 p.m., FoxSports Northwest September26,2000 VOLUME 101, ISSUE 20 SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com Exceptional’ team poised to make some noise Despite losses in its first three conference matches, the volleyball squad is ready to contend in the Pac-10 ii This is a very, very different program than it was last year. Sydney Chute Sophomore setter yy By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald While the final results have been dis appointing, the Oregon volleyball team (7-4 overall, 0-3 Pacific-10) is still ac complishing some of its main goals. Progress is being made. Competition is strong. And confidence is high. Three consecutive losses to confer ence foes Stanford, California and Ore gon State could have devastated the Ducks, who took each opponent into the fifth game, including No. 15 Stan ford. “An inexperienced team would have folded after the Stanford loss,” first-year head coach Carl Ferreira said. “But we’ve continued to put ourselves in a situation to win.” And win they did. After the heart-wrenching loss to the Beavers on Sept. 19, the Ducks took out their aggression on the Portland Pilots on Sunday, winning convincingly, 3-0. It was Oregon’s first home win of the season, and first sweep at McArthur Court in two years. “I think we’ve done exceptional so far,” outside hitter Monique Tobbagi said. “Although we lost some of those matches, we showed what we are capa ble of and that we can get teams in trou ble.” The Ducks are now in an all-too-fa miliar position as they jump into the middle of their Pac-10 schedule. Last season’s 6-0 pre-season resulted in a dismal 7-20 overall campaign in the na tion’s toughest volleyball conference. This year’s squad is not expecting the same outcome. “This is a very, very, different program than it was last year,” said sophomore setter Sydney Chute, who recorded her first career triple double against Cal (14 kills, 12 digs, 39 assists). “We’re not go ing to stop at seven wins.” In roughly one-third of the time, Ore gon has won as many matches this year as it did throughout all of the 1999 cam paign. “We need to keep progressing on the things we’re focused on,” Ferreira said. “We’re just trying to take it one game at a time and compete like crazy and put Turn to Volleyball, page 17 . • . .. r Erin Swanson-Davies Emerald Outside hitter Lindsay Murphy is one of four freshmen to receive playing time and has recorded at least one kill in all of Oregon’s matches. World-class decathlete joins UO as track coach ■ Eugenean and decathlete Dan Steele has also competed on the U.S. Olympic bobsled team By Jeff Smith Oregon Daily Emerald To be a decathlete, one must thrive on the challenges each individual event provides. World-class decathlete and Eugene resi dent Dan Steele is certainly not one to turn down an opportunity to test himself, which is one of the reasons he has achieved such a high level of international success. With that in mind, the former NCAA champion has decided to test his fate as a coach, and will join the men’s track team on a volunteer basis to spread his knowledge of many events to the Ducks. “Coaching will be a fun, exciting challenge — something I’m definitely looking to,” Steele said. “The Ducks have a great pro gram, and the events they want me to cover fit really well.” The two specific events that Steele will help advise are the track team’s hurdlers and javelin throwers. Back in 1992, as a senior at Eastern Illinois, Steele captured the NCAA championship in the 400 meter hurdles. He ended that season ranked 10th nationally. Oregon men’s track and field coach Martin Smith is delighted to have Steele as a part of the staff and is eager for him to work with his players in the upcoming 2000-01 season. “The addition of Dan to our coaching staff is a great move,” Smith said. “He’s been very successful at the highest levels and has a fa miliarity with a diverse number of events, besides his specialties in the hurdles and javelin. We’re very excited to have him aboard.” Since Steele’s ‘92 NCAA title, he has climbed his way up the decathlete ladder. In 1995, he placed fifth at the USA Champi onships and finished the season ranked fifth nationally and 25th in the world among de cathletes. After a three year hiatus from the sport, Steele came back with a vengeance in *1999 and completed his finest season in national and international competition. He placed third at the USA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, and second at the Pan American Turn to Decathlete, page 16 Stanford's Fasani injured, while Ducks get more love ■Arizona State forward Justin Allen is diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and begins treatment soon By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald Stanford’s road to a possible Rose Bowl re peat just got longer. Senior Randy Fasani, Stanford’s starting quarterback, will probably miss the remain der of the season with a knee injury, accord ing to CBS.SportsLine.com. He sustained the injury in the first quarter of the Cardinal’s upset win over No. 5 Texas Sept. 16. Fasani will undergo arthroscopic surgery Sept. 29. More will be known about the nature of the injury by then, but it is suspected to be a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Stanford coaches and players are reportedly moving on as if Fasani won’t return. The injury moves redshirt freshman Chris Lewis into the starting role tor a team that still considers itself a Pacific-10 Conference contender. Lewis was a high school superstar, setting a California state record with 107 career touchdown passes while at Long Beach Poly. PrepStar rated Lewis the fifth-best prep quar terback in the country after the 1998 season. Lewis struggled against Texas by complet ing just 12 of 33 passes, but he did throw for 214 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning 15-yard throw to DeRon nie Pitts with just more than a minute left. Oregon players earning some props First, the Ducks got love from their fans. Then, they got love from Lee Corso. No love was given by visiting UCLA last Saturday — but they did get some love from the rest of the nation. And on Monday, two Oregon players got some love from the Pac-10. Junior tailback Maurice Morris and special teams freshman Keith Lewis received Pac-10 Player of the Week honors for their solid per formances against the Bruins. Defensive end Turn to Pac-10, page 17
