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