Sports Editor
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Friday, October 24,2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
College football:
Auburn at LSU
4:45 p.m. Saturday, ESPN
Mark McCambridge Photographer
Redshirt sophomore Domenique Lainez is finally getting her opportunity to shine as Oregon’s starting goalkeeper this season.
Mother’s love
Domenique Lainez refuses to follow
the crowd, always stays involved and
gets her character from her mother
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Domenique Lainez and her mother are dose.
Despite a busy schedule, hectic life and being separated by a
state line, Lainez often makes time to talk to her mother. And
she wouldn't have it any other way.
"She's one of my best friends," Lainez said.
"My mom has taught me: You really have to be your own
individual. It doesn't matter what anybody tells you, because a
lot of people are going to try and dis
courage you. It's up to you if you are
going to be able to succeed."
Lainez works day in and day out to
be successful as the starting goalkeeper
for the Oregon women's soccer team.
But it has been a difficult road for the redshirt sophomore.
Lainez has been mostly relegated to the bench with injuries
for three years previous to this season.
Lainez, an avid soccer player since she was 8, came to Ore
gon while recovering from a broken foot and recurring knee
injuries suffered during her final two seasons of high school at
St. Ignatius Prep. The San Bruno, Calif, native played 75 min
utes in her first year at Oregon and redshirted last year due to
an ankle injury.
Now she's back. And 14 games into the season, Lainez has
recorded 62 saves and holds a 2.14 goals against average. But
mostly, she has seen greater self improvement.
"I worked a lot during the summer and my play has signifi
Turn to SOCCER, page 6A
DUCK
SOCCER
Club Running team
takes top finishes
under Heinonen
The women's members of the Oregon Club
. Running team took first in Estacada last weekend
Kirsten McEwen
Freelance Reporter
Tom Heinonen is back.
Heinonen, who retired as Oregon's head track coach in June; is back
at the helm, this time in charge of the Club Sports Running team.
The running club fielded complete men's and women's cross
country teams on Oct. 18 for the first time ever. Both teams compet
ed in the Lewis and Clark Pioneer Open at Mdver Park in Estacada.
With nine runners competing, the women
won the race and beat five NCAA Division III
teams. Oregon runner Liz James finished in
first place with a time of 22 minutes, 35 sec
onds. James finished the 6,000-meter race 10
seconds ahead of the next finisher. Christy
Lacey-Krietz was the next Oregon runner to
come in with a time of22:54.6, placing her sixth in the race.
The men did not fare as well as the women, taking fifth and beat
ing just one of the six teams competing. Brandon Michael was Ore
gon's first mnner to make it across the finish line with a time of
27:46.1, giving him 12th place Kevin Sully was the next Oregon mn
ner to complete the 8,000-meter course with a time of 28:19.1,
which was good for 20th.
Richie Carpenter, Oregon's Running Club coordinator, is encour
aged by the results the team accrued in its first meet.
"Just a few years ago, Oregon's running club was inactive," Carpen
ter said. "Now we are out there competing as a university and coming
home from races with great times, both individually and as a team."
Carpenter credits Oregon's improvement to Heinonen.
'Tom has worked with runners for years now and is a runner him
self." Carpenter said. "He has a ridiculous amount of knowledge
about the sport and he has been a great addition to our program."
Heinonen also provides the team with workouts, diagnoses aches
and pains and gives advice whenever needed.
"Tom is just what we needed to turn our program around,"
Carpenter said.
On the rink
Club Ice Hockey also began its season last weekend, playing two
games against Washington State in Spokane, Wash. Oregon's first
game was tougher than expected, and they lost 6-1 to the Cougars.
Club
Sports
Turn to CLUB, page 6A
Bruins too much for Ducks at Mac
The Ducks fall short against UCLA but celebrate
a significant milestone by winning their first
conference game of the season, 31-29
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
In the grand scheme of things, winning one game during a
conference match doesn't mean much.
But for the Oregon volleyball team, winning one game
against No. 9 UCLA on Thursday in front of 566 at McArthur
Court was a huge step in the right direction.
When freshman Kristen Bitter and sophomore Jaclyn Jones
rose up and sent a Bruin attack back over the net at the end of
game three, Oregon captured a 31-29 victory, the first Pacific-10
Conference game the Ducks have won all season.
The fact that Oregon lost the match 3-1 (30-23, 30-20, 29-31,
30-22) seemed insignificant after its ending.
"I couldn't be happier for (the players)," Oregon head coach
Carl Ferreira said. "(UCLA) is the ninth
ranked team in the country. You're doing
things at a national level to win that
game. You learn how to compete on a
top-10, national level."
The players' sentiments were in-line
with Ferreira's comments.
DUCK
VOLLEYBALL
"It just felt so good to win that game," freshman Sarah Ma
son said. "Nothing was going to stop us."
The Ducks executed like one of the nation's elite during
game three. After building a 24-18 lead, Oregon (3-16 overall,
0-10 Pac-10) survived mental mistakes and a 6-0 UCLA run
to capture the win. The Mac Court crowd rose to its feet and
applauded the Ducks as they switched sides and prepared for
game four.
"It was great to hear the fans go (wild)," Ferreira said. "Their
support is unbelievable."
Mason led Oregon in kills with 16. Every time the Ducks
needed to score a point, it seemed as though she was there to
put it away.
"I just go up and rip it," Mason said. "I look at that ball and
nobody's gonna get it. No one can stop me."
Jones finished with 13 kills and two block assists, including
the winner in game three.
"I think it's a confidence builder for us," Jones said. "I think it
shows us that we can compete with these teams."
Sophomore Kelly Russell added 12 kills, while sophomore
Jodi Bell dished out 38 assists. Junior Katie O'Neil hammered
out 21 digs. Bitter had two kills and five block assists.
i-_5*
Tim Bobosky Photographer
Sophomore Jaclyn Jones finished with 13 kills against UCLA.
Oregon's young squad had its composure tested several times
during the third frame. Mason received a yellow card for shout
ing at an opposing player and later failed to return a ball —
which was still live — thinking play had been stopped.
Later in the match, junior Lauren Westendorf was whistled
for a service-violation after failing to serve the ball in the al
lotted time ot seven seconds. Westendorf stood behind the
baseline in disbelief, telling the head referee that she didn't
hear his whistle to start play. O'Neil received a yellow card on
the play for arguing.
After falling behind 28-21, UCLA (15-4, 7-3) went on a 8-1
run to pull within even at 29. Oregon scored the next two points
on a Bruin attack error and the Jones-Bitter block.
Players play the game," Ferreira said. "When they earn credi
bility based on what they do between the lines, there's nothing a
coach can give them or say to them that means more than what
they earned by themselves by competing."
Contact the sports reporter at jonroetman@dailyemerald.comr