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Adam Jude
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Assistant Sports Editor:
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Best Bet
Bowling: PBA Tour
5p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, October 2,2001
Softball coach resigns over missing money
■ Rick Gamez resigns after auditors
find more than $5,700 being
misappropriated on travel expenses
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon softball head coach Rick
Gamez resigned Monday after an audit
uncovered discrepancies of more than
$5,700 in his team’s travel budget, Ath
letic Director Bill Moos said.
Moos said the discrepancies, discov
ered two years ago and investigated this
summer, arose when team members
were forced to sign for money they nev
er received on road trips.
Gamez settled with the University for
$26,000, or half his yearly salary, and
will reimburse the University for the
missing money as part of the settlement.
Gamez chose to resign and settle after
he was presented with the findings of
the audit, Moos said.
“(Gamez) is responsible for his pro
gram just like all my coaches,” Moos
said in a press conference Monday. “We
believe it was his responsibility.”
The investigation, conducted by the
secretary of state’s office, delved into
the last two seasons but no further.
“We got word of it, and we went
through the proper procedures,”
Moos said. “An investigation result
ed, and we thought the appropriate
action was taken.”
Moos said complaints from team
members and parents over the last two
seasons led to the discovery of the miss
ing funds in the spring of 2000. Moos
said he was “comfortable” with the sit
uation after a conversation with Gamez
following the 2001 season, but com
plaints eventually reached the Oregon
University System. The OUS then con
tacted the secretary of state’s office to
conduct the investigation.
The secretary of state’s office has yet
to release a report, but will do so later
this week, Moos said.
Gamez has been Oregon’s head soft
ball coach for five years. He compiled
a 168-164-1 record, and guided the
Ducks to three postseason appear
ances in that time. Before Oregon,
Gamez coached at New Mexico State,
Central Arizona Community College
and Glendale College.
“The improvement in our softball
program has been very, very good,”
Moos said.
Despite the program’s turnaround
under Gamez, controversy surround
ed the team last season. Senior start
ing catcher Kelly Planche unceremo
niously quit halfway through the
season, and the team often refused to
practice as bad team chemistry led the
Turn to Softball coach, page 6
Jon House Emerald
Rick Gamez (right) announced his resignation Monday after auditors found more than $5,700 being misappropriated from the
softball team’s budget. In five years at Oregon, Gamez led the softball team to a 168-164-1 record and three postseason berths.
Adam Amato Emerald
Junior setter Sydney Chute, the opening-day starter, has been slowed by
an ankle injury, but is still averaging nearly 10 assists per game this year.
In new system, setters battle for starting job
■ Now in a traditional one-setter
offense, senior Julie Gerlach and
junior Sydney Chute are having to
earn every minute of playing time
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
When head coach Carl Ferreira an
nounced he was going back to a tradi
tional one-setter
offense after last
season’s 4-2 flex
scheme, senior
Julie Gerlach and
junior Sydney
Chute were most
affected.
Because the
new offense has
room for only one setter on the floor at
all times, Gerlach and Chute have been
slated to battle for the starting spot. Be
fore Pacific-10 Conference play began,
Chute seemed to hold the position tight
ly, but now Gerlach has come back
strong.
“We started the year with Sydney as
our No. 1 setter when we changed our
offense,” Ferreira said. “(When Chute
suffered) an ankle injury, Julie got in
and has done an excellent job.”
New to the team this year are junior
middle blockers Lindsay Closs and
Stephanie Martin, two players Ferreira
called “All-Americans.” Their addition
contributed to a slow start for Chute at
the beginning of the season, he said.
“She struggled a little bit getting used
to All-American caliber hitters,” he
said. “All of a sudden you’re surround
ed. You get in the flow of running an of
fense, and she struggled a little bit.”
Coupled with her ankle injury,
Chute’s poor play allowed Gerlach to
emerge and become a contributor in the
new offense. After 13 team matches,
Gerlach has 188 assists, or 6.27 per
game. Chute has 308 assists, or 9.94 per
game, and has played in 31 games com
pared to Gerlach’s 30.
But last weekend was another story
for the duo. Gerlach played a majority
of the match against Washington, post
ing 27 assists and three kills. Chute
played a small portion of the third
game, coming in with six assists of her
own. The next night, Chute played the
entire match against the Cougars,
recording 24 assists and five kills.
Ducks fired up after
post-game talk
Against Washington State, the Ducks
looked to be an entirely different team
than the one that took the court against
Washington. Was it something in the
water? All bets say no.
Turn to Volleyball, page 6
Bruins ‘beat down’ Beavers, move up to No. 9 in both polls
■ UCLA and Washington join the Ducks
in the top 10 after winning on Saturday
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
The good news for Duck fans is that the
Beavers don’t appear to be all they were
cracked up to be. The bad news is UCLA
looks nearly unstoppable.
After consecutive embarrassments to Ore
gon State — including a 55-7 stomping in Cor
vallis two year ago — the Bruins (4-0 overall,
1-0 Pacific-10 Conference) quieted a packed
Reser Stadium crowd Saturday with a 38-7
win over the then-19th-ranked Beavers (1-2,0
1), who managed just 220 yards of total offense.
“Their quarterback (Jonathan Smith) said
that we haven’t faced a top-notch offense yet,
and I guess we haven’t faced one yet,” UCLA
middle linebacker Robert
Thomas told the Associ
ated Press after the game.
“I expected this.”
The Bruins moved up
to No. 9 in both the AP
and coaches polls. Ore
gon State, Sports Illus
trated’s preseason No. 1,
is no longer ranked in
the top 25.
“We got beat down,” Oregon State linebacker
James Allen said. “We got it brought to us in our
own home, and we’ve got to fix it fast.”
Heisman hopeful DeShaun Foster racked
up 147 yards and three touchdowns for the
Bruins. He is averaging 128 yards per contest.
“This team could be as good as it wants to
be,” UCLA head coach Bob Toledo told The
Los Angeles Times.
No. 7 Oregon plays UCLA at the Rose Bowl
Nov. 10.
Huskies come from behind again
For the third-straight year, Washington had
to pull through late to pull out a victory
against the California Bears.
The Huskies, who moved up two spots to
No. 10 in the coaches poll, trailed 21-10 at the
half before winning 31-28 Saturday. Last
year, Washington scored 23 points in the
fourth for a 36-24 comeback win. The Bears
led 24-17 in the fourth quarter two years ago,
only to see UW win 31-27.
“It is amazing,” Washington head coach
Rick Neuheisel told the AP. “They’ve had
opportunities to win all three. I point to
character. Nobody blinks.”
The Huskies have won 19 straight games
against Cal. Neuheisel’s kids have also won
10 straight, with their last loss coming to
the Ducks on Sept. 20, 2000.
Cal is 0-4 for the first time since 1980.
Turn to Pac-10 Football, page 8