.... Kevin Calame Emerald
(Left to right) Lindsay Murphy, Julie Gerlach, Sydney Chute and Halie Mazza look to unite in Washington tonight.
Duck volleyball has chance
for premiere Pac-10 victory
■Three last-place teams face
off in Washington this
weekend; a sweep for Oregon
would be its first since 1991
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
It’s not going to get any easier for
the Oregon volleyball team.
In a clash of bottom-feeding ti
tans, the Ducks (7-8 overall, 0-7 Pa
cific-10) will travel north to face
Washington (4-10, 0-7) and Wash
ington State (10-6, 1-6) this week
end.
The Ducks have not won consec
utive Pac-10 matches since 1991.
“I really want to sweep them,”
freshman outside hitter Lindsay
Murphy said. “And realistically,
we should.”
If Oregon can get past the slump
ing Huskies on Friday, then the
contest against the Cougars should
be even better for head coach Carl
Ferreira’s club. Over the past two
weekends, the Ducks have had lit
tle success on Fridays, but have
come out strong on Saturday night.
“In our last two series, our best
performances have come against
the best teams, which is not what
you want to see,” Ferreira said of
Oregon’s losses to No. 1 USC Sept.
30 and No. 6 Arizona last Saturday.
The Huskies — whose last Pac
10 victory came over Oregon last
season — have lost eight straight
matches, but have won nine of the
last 10 meetings with the Ducks.
Junior outside hitter Monique
Tobbagi is confident of the team’s
chances this weekend.
“We know we can beat them,”
she said. “If we can be a little more
efficient in our attacks, then we’ll
run circles around people.”
Although the three teams are in
the “Conference of Champions,”
Oregon, Washington and Washing
ton State haven’t played anything
like champions this season. The
Ducks have the worst hitting per
centage in the conference, and the
fewest number of blocks, digs and
assists. The Huskies have the low
est kill total in the Pac-10 and are
hitting just .207.
Washington State’s only Pac-10
victory this season came against
Washington.
It should be an interesting week
end.
“It’s been a rough beginning in
the Pac-10,” sophomore middle
blocker Amanda Porter said. “But
up in Washington we’d like to take
advantage of those teams and finish
off the first half of Pac-10 play on a
positive note.”
Saturday’s match in Pullman
will be a homecoming of sorts for
Murphy, who is a native of
Spokane, Wash.
“I’m going to have some friends
and family there, so I’m really ex
cited,” she said. “I just want to
play and contribute as much as I
can.”
Ferreira will also be heading 1
back to familiar territory. During
his tenure as the head coach at Ida
ho, Ferreira was located just seven
miles from the Washington State
campus.
“Washington State is one of the
toughest places to play in the con
ference,” Ferreira said of Friel
Court, which is averaging 939 vol
leyball fans per match this season.
Ferreira also noted that the
matches against the Washington
schools are important in terms of
recruitment.
“We want to attract the best tal
ent in the region,” he said. “We
want Oregon volleyball to be the
school of choice.” L
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