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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2000)
Friday Best Bet NCAA Hoops: St. John’s vs. Kansas 6 p.m., ESPN Crucial step awaits cross country teams at Reeionals ■The Oregon cross country teams head to Fresno for their last chances at NCAA meet berths By Robbie McCallum Oregon Daily Emerald All teams come down to a do-or die point in their seasons. The Oregon cross country teams have met theirs. Whether or not the Duck Harriers will advance to the NCAA Tourna ment will be determined by this weekend’s performances at the NCAA Western Regional meet in Fresno, Calif. The Oregon women’s team will be facing an uphill battle in a quest for its fourth straight championship meet berth. The lady Harriers dropped out of the polls completely after starting the season in the No. 12 spot. “All we’ve got to do at Re gional is edge Washington State and UCLA to get a spot at nationals,” women’s head coach Tom Heinonen said. “If we don’t beat both of them and get fifth there, then we won’t get selected.” At the Pacific-10 Conference Championships in Seattle Oct. 28, Oregon finished seventh overall, trailing both Washington State and UCLA. In a prospective three-way meet with Oregon, Washington State and UCLA, based on 6,000 meter per sonal bests, Oregon ties with Wash ington State while edging UCLA by one point. The teams are well matched and similar to each other. However, in larger cross country meets, such as the Western Regional meet with close to 30 teams, some teams can get spread out. Oregon is the deepest team of the three schools competing for the No. 5 spot, with All-American Hanna Smedstad leading the way and only a 52-second gap between the next seven runners. Second-seeded Stanford is the meet favorite, followed by Arizona State and Arizona. The meet will take place at Wood ward Park near the Fresno State campus. Should the Ducks fail to qualify for the NCAA meet, it would be the last cross country meet for seniors Smedstad, Katie Crabb and Rhian non Glenn. The projected top-seven women for the meet are Smedstad, Crabb, Glenn, junior transfer Carrie Zo grafos, sophomores Eri MacDonald and Erinn Gulbrandsen and fresh man Laura Harmon. The lOth-ranked Oregon men stand a good chance of advancing to their 29th-overall and sixth-consec utive NCAA appearance Saturday. The Ducks are ranked second among teams in the Western region, which comprises mostly West Coast schools. At the Pac-10 Championships, Oregon impressed many people by placing second behind No. 2 Stan ford and upsetting conference rival Turn to Cross country, page 6A UO gains much-needed win over Northwest foe ■ In front of 872 fans at Mac Court, the Ducks defeated the Huskies for the first time since 1995 By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald For the first time this season, McArthur Court was filled with jubila tion after a Pacific-10 Conference vol leyball contest. The Oregon band proudly saluted a re lieved team with the school’s fight song as the Ducks stormed down the halls, screaming and slapping high-fives. The excitement was clear: The Ducks (10-14 overall, 2-13 Pac-10) had just won their first conference match at home, in their final weekend in Eugene, and had beaten one of their most heated opponents for the first time since 1995. “We’ve just been working so hard all week in practice, and we knew we could win,” said junior hitter Monique Tobba gi after Oregon’s 3-1 (11-15, 15-12, 16 14, 15-8) victory against Washington Thursday night. “I’m just really proud of our competitive attitude tonight.” Three Oregon players recorded dou ble-digit kills, but the night belonged to Tobbagi, who finished the match with a career-high 28 kills. “I felt really confident all night,” said Tobbagi, who also tallied 11 digs and three service aces. “They weren’t able to stop me.” Senior Halie Mazza tied a career high with seven blocks, while adding 19 kills and a .421 attack percentage. Sopho more Sydney Chute just missed a triple double with 10 kills, 45 assists and nine digs. As a team, the Ducks outblocked the Huskies 14-4. “We deserved this,” said freshman Lindsay Murphy after one of her best per formances in a Duck uniform. “We’ve thought about this since we lost to them earlier this year. It was really hard to hug [the Washington players] after that. ” But the hugs were much easier this time around. While the Ducks opened each game with quick leads, the Huskies found a way to slip back into the contest, espe cially in game three. With the match tied 1-1, the Ducks trailed 12-14 with Washington ready to serve in the pivotal third game. Another Husky point would have meant that the Ducks would finish last in the Pac-10 for the second straight year. But it was not to be, as head coach Carl Ferreira made one of the best, yet easiest, decisions during his first year at Oregon. He simply called a timeout to gather his young volleyball squad. “We talked about staying relaxed and staying focused for the moment,” Tob bagi said. “We always want to get the Turn to Volleyball, page 6A Bil» .! Catharine Kendall Emerald Freshman Lindsay Murphy, senior Halie Mazza, junior Monique Tobbagi and freshman Alisha Stevens celebrate after the Ducks defeated the Huskies for the first time since 1995. Tobbagi finished the match with a career-high 28 kills. Oregon wrestling opens season with high expectations Emerald All-American senior Doug Lee is one of the Ducks’ main returnees. ■The Oregon wrestling team jumps into action today with a match against UC-Davis By Peter Hockaday and Robbie McCallum Oregon Daily Emerald Take a quick glance at the Oregon wrestling team, and the first word that comes to mind is “wow.” Then you think that the Ducks are proba bly going to overmatch California-Davis in the Pacific-10 Conference opener tonight. UC Davis and Ore gon square off at Crater High School in Central Point in a match that the Ducks have traditionally won. Oregon is 6-0 against the Aggies in six meetings. Last season, the Ducks won WRESTLING handily, 24-11, at Davis, Calif. Last year’s result is important, be cause both squads have mostly the same lineups this year. Davis returns nine starters, while the Ducks also return nine letter winners. The most important returning Oregon wrestler is All-American Doug Lee. The Central Point native is a two-time Pac 10 champion and finished fourth at the NCAA Championships last season. His 36 victories are third all-time at Oregon. “Doug is better now than he was last year,” Oregon head coach Chuck Kear ney said. Another important returner didn’t play against UC Davis last season be cause he was redshirting. Senior Chael Sonnen was an All-American back in 1998, but took 1999 off to train for the Olympics. Lee, in the 184-pound weight class, and Sonnen, in the 197-pound weight class, should easily take their matches tonight against freshmen Burak Pekin and Brandon Arsenault, respectively. Many will be watching the 157-pound match to see NCAA-qualifier Eugene Har ris, a former transfer from Lassen Junior College in Nevada. The junior finished the season with a 24-11 overall record but also boasted an even more impressive 13 4 dual match record. Harris faces senior Burt Pierson today. Two newcomers making their debuts in an Oregon singlet will be junior Sean Williams and freshman Luke Larwin. Williams recently transferred from Northern Idaho College, where he was a two-time junior college champion. Williams competed on the 1996 South African national team and will wrestle at 125 pounds. Turn to Wrestling, page 6A
