Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 28, 2003)
Sixth player leaves UO volleyball squad Dariam Acevedo leaves the program because of financial reasons and will go back to Puerto Rico Volleyball Hank Hager Sports Reporter Yet another Oregon volleyball play er has announced her departure from head coach Carl Ferreira’s squad. Freshman Dariam Acevedo, a key component of Oregon’s offense last season, said Friday she is leaving the team because of financial reasons. “This was a great experience,” the Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico- native said. “This was the first time playing for a team outside my country. The Pac-10 is one of the best places to play volleyball.” Acevedo paced the Ducks last sea son, playing in 19 matches after sit ting out the first part of the season, after playing with the Puerto Rico National Team. When she came to Oregon, Acevedo stood out, averag ing 3.31 kills per game and posting 24 service aces. Acevedo posted the team’s season high of 23 kills Oct. 18 against Ari zona State, a match Oregon narrow ly lost in five sets. She also was instrumental in Ore gon’s only win of the Pacific-10 Con ference season. She had 11 kills in Oregon’s four-game victory against Oregon State. “I think it’s unfortunate,” Ferreira said. “She’s a great human being and a talented player. She meant a lot to the recruiting efforts we put in, so it’s always disappointing in that regard. So you’re losing a talented athlete and a family member.” Acevedo made it clear that her de cision had nothing to do with the loss of five players from last season in January. The group left the team after Oregon’s 1-17 conference sea son, and two — Lindsay Murphy and Heather Gilmore — have since transferred to other schools. “(Ferreira) is always trying to make the best decisions for the team,” Acevedo said. “You, as a player, have to respect your head coach because he is like the captain of the boat. You have to do what he says because it’s al ways with the best intentions.” Acevedo said she originally came to Oregon because of the school’s ar chitecture program, but decided during the year to change her major. But because of her family’s econom ic difficulties, she said, they asked her to come home. Because she respects her family’s decision and understands the situa tion, there was no other decision that she could make even though she val ued her season with the Ducks. Acevedo said she plans on com peting for the Puerto Rico National Team again and most likely for the University of Puerto Rico. “It is for the good of my family,” she said. Jaclyn Jones, Acevedo’s room mate and closest friend on the team, said she will miss seeing her on the McArthur Court floor and off it as well. Jones is from Fort St. John, British Columbia, and the duo con stituted Oregon’s foreign contingent. Jones said she has known of Acevedo’s decision for three weeks. “It’s only setting in right now, though,” Jones said. “She was a key player because she knows so much about the game. Me, being her room mate, it means a lot to me. “I expect her to do great things. I expect her to make a huge impact because she’s a great player.” With the loss of Acevedo, Oregon now has five returning players — two juniors-to-be and three sopho mores-to-be. Ferreira said there will be seven newcomers to the team next season, four of which have signed national letters of intent. He added that Oregon’s five re turners next season all are under scholarship, which means that of the 12 players expected to wear a Duck uniform next season, three will be walk-ons. “We’re right where we’ve always planned to be in terms of the progress we’re making,” Ferreira said. “Attrition is probably a natural component of collegiate athletics, and really you play today, and pre Adam Amato Emerald Dariam Acevedo averaged 331 kills per game for the Ducks last season. pare for tomorrow. You say that easi er than you accept it sometimes, but that’s the way we try to approach it.” The Ducks begin their 2003 sea son on Aug. 29 at the North Carolina Tournament before beginning their Pac-10 season Sept. 18 against Cali fornia at McArthur Court. Contact the sports reporter at hankhager@dailyemerald.com. Kellen Taylor can't hold on to the ball as Sam Hughes defends him Friday at Oregon's third scrimmage. Adam Amato Emerald Football continued from page 11 play, and they have taken some major steps in the last couple of practices. “There were two halves today. The offense came back in the sec ond half and obviously took advan tage of the field position.” Kevin Mitchell, participating in his first scrimmage of the spring, re turned a tipped pass for a 7-yard touchdown early on. Justin Phinisee downed quarterback Johnny DuRocher for an 8-yard sack, the team’s only sack of the day. And Demetrius Spates came through with the big play of the afternoon, returning a fumble 79 yards for a touchdown. “I dropped one pick, and I was kicking myself for that,” Mitchell said. “But I got the second one and scored. It’s just good to get back into the swing of things again.” After a sluggish and scoreless first half for the offense, Jason Fife, Chris Vincent, and the rest of the group picked up the pace. Fife finished the afternoon 4-for 8 for 23 yards but ran for a 5-yard touchdown. He also threw a 4-yard touchdown strike to tight end Nate LiaBraaten. “I haven’t really felt like I could get into a rhythm the last couple of scrimmages,” Fife said. “How the reps turned out, or the fact that that it was a running scrimmage last scrimmage, it’s been really hard for me to get a groove. I think I was able to find it there.” Vincent ended the afternoon with 63 yards on 11 carries, break ing out on a 22-yard run late in the second half. “I think Chris Vincent started off very slowly,” Bellotti said. “It looked like he wasn’t ready, and I heard the defense sort of getting af ter him saying he wasn’t running against the (third string) anymore. I think that probably challenged him a little bit and might have got him going.” The Ducks are coming up on their last week of spring practices. They practice Tuesday and Thurs day before holding their annual spring game Saturday at Autzen Sta dium. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m. and is free to all who attend. However, Oregon is asking for dona tions of three non-perishable food items for admission. The food will be donated to the Lane County Food Bank. Gates open Saturday at 10 a.m. Contact the sports reporter at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.