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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 2003)
Sports Editor Hank Hager hankhager@dailyemerald.com -Oregon Daily Emerald SPORTS Best bet College football: Boise State at BYU 4:30 p.m., ESPN Thursday, October 30, 2003 Mindi Rice The girl and the game Huskies did well with new coach Keith Gilbertson is taking the Huskies back. Back to the time when Washington was a respected program. Back to the days of Don James, when his Huskies were the golden boys of Pacif ic- 10 Conference football. Back to the days of Washington's winning | ways, like it's 1991 national championship. Don't get your feathers ruffled, Duck fans — the 4-4 Huskies won't win the Rose or Sugar Bowl this season. It's still a few years before it's really Gilbertson's team. The players are still Rick Neuheisel's re cruits. Even while Slick Rick travels to South Seattle to coach Rainier Beach High School's quarterbacks, the team is still his. It will take a few years; Cody Pickett and Reggie Williams will graduate, the last in the line of Tuiasosopo's may be on the team, and by then it will be Gilbertson's team. When James took over a struggling pro gram in 1975, he had his two worst sea sons — 6-5 and 5-6 — right away. It was smooth sailing from the 1977 10-2 season through the 1992 9-3 season, despite the final year being clouded by scandal. The legend of former head coach Don James in Husky lore is similar in tone to how Ducks speak of Rich Brooks: "The coach that built a program" or "the coach who set them on the right path." James led Washington for 18 seasons, highlighted by a 12-0 co-national cham pionship in 1991 and three consecutive Rose Bowls from 1991 to 1993. James, the coach with the second-most conference wins in Pac-10 history (his 97 wins are one behind UCLA's Terry Don ahue and 98 wins in 20 seasons), left a legacy. He inspired his players, fellow coaches, fans and alumni. Gilbertson coached for four seasons un der James as a graduate assistant in 1976, the offensive line coach in 1989 and 1990, and the offensive coordinator and offen sive line coach in 1991. After the 1991 national championship, Gilbertson parted ways with the Huskies and headed south to California. In four seasons with the Golden Bears, Gilbert son's squad finished in the top half of the Pac-10 twice. The Snohomish, Wash., native then jumped to a three-year stint as an assistant coach for the Seattle Seahawks. Earlier in his career, Gilbertson coached Idaho for three seasons, from 1986 to 1988. His three teams combined for a 28 9 record, leaving his .757 winning per centage as the second best in Big Sky Con ference history. While any consistency Gilbertson may have is unproven at large Division-1 schools, he has led winning teams before. Turn to RICE, page 14 Emerald J Junior Brandi Davis finished with eight points in Tuesday's intra-squad scrimmage. Defensive tone set by Shetters at scrimmage The Ducks had a strong defensive performance but struggled offensively on Tuesday at Mac By Jon Roetman Sports Reporter When Carolyn Ganes re ceived an entry pass under the basket during Tuesday's intra squad scrimmage at McArthur Court, WOMEN’S “asn ' — , , sure ex BASKETBALL a c 11 y - how she was supposed to score. It wasn't that the sopho more forward was unfamiliar with scoring. In fact, she led Oregon with 10.9 points per game last year. On this day, Ganes' confu sion came from the defensive presence of 6-foot-6-inch freshman forward Jessica Shet ters. After several pump fakes, Ganes went up, only to have her shot swatted away by Shel ters' long wingspan. Such offensive struggles were plentiful for Oregon during Tuesday's scrimmage, as a combination of enthusi astic defense and early-season jitters led to an off-shooting night for the Ducks. The scrimmage featured players switching back and forth between green and yel low teams. Play was divided into four eight-minute quarters with the score being reset at each frame's end. Shetters broke a scoreless tie with an eight-foot turnaround jumper for the yellow team, more than two and a half min utes into the first quarter. Play ers combined to shoot 23 per cent for the period and 36 percent for the scrimmage. Despite the team's offen sive struggles, head coach Bev Smith said she was happy with the way the Ducks played defense and rebound ed the basketball "1 was really happy with the three things we talked about," Smith said. "We talked about defense, we talked about re bounding and offensively, all we asked for was execution. We executed well in getting open Turn to BASKETBALL, page 14 Oregon, Oregon State set for Civil War battle at Mac The Oregon volleyball team looks to erase the memory of losing the season’s first Civil War showdown By Jon Roetman Sports Reporter Oregon found itself engulfed in a sea of orange and black when it took the Gill Coliseum floor in Corvallis on Oct. 2. Surrounded by 1,274 screaming Oregon State fans, the youthful Ducks were hounded with _ every Beaver point. The crowd, with its ver bal taunts and rubber ducks on ropes, forced a - flustered Oregon team into several key mistakes en route to a 3-0 (30-26, 30-27, 30-28) loss. The frustration culminated when the Ducks relin quished a 15-4 lead in game three, on their way to being swept. DUCK VOLLEYBALL With these Civil War memories still fresh in their minds, the Ducks have waited 28 days to get another shot at the Beavers. The wait is over. Oregon hosts Oregon State (12-11 overall, 2-9 Pacific-10 Conference) tonight at 7 p.m. at McArthur Court. The Ducks (3-17, 0-11) enter the match on a positive note after staying competi tive with No. 1 USC and No. 9 UCLA last week. Oregon won its first conference game of the sea son against the Bruins. "1 think the one thing we'll take away from (last week) is confidence," sophomore outside hitter Jadyn Jones said. Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said the Ducks are a different team than they were a month ago and added that players, including the 12 freshmen and sophomores, have discovered a style of play that fits them best. "Early on, when you're a young team and you haven't quite evolved with your own identity, you (watch) experienced teams to get where you want to go," Ferreira said. "But I do feel that we now have an identity. Our players recognize how they play the game, how we want to score points, how we want to have energy, how we want to be men tally composed. "1 think you're going to see a composed team that plays with identity on Thursday night." Knowing that crowd support can make a huge difference in a match, Ferreira said he hopes Ore gon fans come to McArthur Court in large numbers. "Fans make an enormous difference in the at mosphere," Ferreira said. "Creating a home court advantage in this conference is an enormous as set. I wish we could break an attendance record every year when we play Oregon State. "It's a fun event. Not only is it volleyball, it's in stitution versus institution, it's green and gold ver sus black and orange. Everyone knows the rivalry." Ihe players couldn't agree more. "That would be amazing," sophomore middle blocker Kelly Russell said about the idea of a rowdy Mac Court. "We're a little more prepared this time around. We're in the groove of conference play, and it would be a huge help for us to have a huge crowd. There's nothing that gets you more fired up than having a lot of people cheering you on." In the season's previous meeting, Russell led the Ducks with 19 points —15 kills, three service aces and two block assists — and freshman Sarah Mason added 12 kills. Freshman middle blocker Kristen Bitter also had a solid match, finishing Marto McCambridge Photographer Lately, Kristen Bitter has been a major force at the net for Oregon. with 11.5 points — five kills, three aces, one solo block and five block assists. Ihe Beavers are led both offensively and defen sively by Allison Lawrence. Ihe junior outside hit ter is accountable for 3.54 kills per game and 3.33 digs per game and recorded a double-double in the Beavers' win over the Ducks, finishing with 21 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Karah Rhoades also finished with a double-double, adding 14 kills and 11 digs. Both teams enter tonight's match looking to snap losing streaks. Oregon has lost 12 consecu- -j five matches, while Oregon State has dropped its last five. Contact the sports reporter at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.
