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.