THOMAS
continued from page 5
Take redshirt sophomore Nicole
Carbin for example. She was the star
freshman in 2001 and redshirted the
2002 season after tearing her anterior
cruciate ligament.
In 2002, the Ducks finished 2-14-2
overall, the worst record in program
history. This year, Oregon finished 9
11 overall, the most wins in program
history.
Coincidence? No.
Oarbin led the Pacific-10 Confer
ence in shots (70), tied redshirt fresh
man Andrea Valadez for goals (7) and
was named to the All-Pacific-10 Con
ference Second-Team.
Without Garbin, Oregon could
have been left with just one confer
ence win, just like 2002. Oregon's
nine wins deserve nine rounds of ap
plause as the largest turnaround in the
program's history.
Then you have the women's basket
ball team, another prime example.
Kedshirt junior Corrie Mizusawa is
back after sitting out last season due
to NCAA transfer rules. Senior
Cathrine Kraayeveld is back in full
swing after missing half of last season
because of a staph infection in her
right knee.
Now Mizusawa and Kraayeveld
lead the team in minutes, averaging
38 and 36, respectively. Kraayeveld
leads in scoring with 25.5 points per
game and Mizusawa is third with
seven.
I he result? A 2-0 start before Tues
day's game, including an upset of
then-No. 9 ranked LSI! and the No.
24 ranking in the Associated Press
poll. Oregon hasn't been ranked at all
for the past two seasons.
Last season marked Oregon's
first absence from the postseason
since 1993.
Put not this season. This season
will be different. This season will
mark Oregon's return to the NCAA
tournament for the first time in
two years.
With Kraayeveld and Mizusawa
back in full swing, Oregon should ad
vance out of the first round of NCAAs
for the first time since 1998.
Tuesday night's game offered
more reassurance of the dominance
that the women's basketball team
brings to the table. A 16-point
blowout of Gonzaga proves that
LSll wasn't a fluke and that Oregon
will win more this season.
Bottom line: It is finally time for
the Oregon women to step into the
spotlight.
That includes everything from
record-breaking performances by the
soccer team to early upsets in basket
ball to adding women's lacrosse as
Oregon's new sport.
It all proves that this is the revival
and rejuvenation of the Oregon
women. Track and field and softball
remain question marks in future
successes.
If women's basketball can continue
the success that women's soccer start
ed, you will soon see the Oregon
women prove their place as the stars
of the University.
It's not the 2001 -02 year of football
and men's basketball but the 2003-04
year of the Oregon women.
Contact the sports reporter
at jessethomas@dailyemeraId.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
MEN
continued from page 5
dogs owned a plus-17 rebounding
margin over its opponents.
'They rebounded hard and that
was a test for us too, because last
year we didn't rebound so well and
hopefully we're going to improve on
that this year," sophomore forward
Ian Crosswhite said.
Oregon also held Fresno State to
just four assists. Fresno State guard
Shantay Legans led his team with
two. Offensively, the Ducks finished
with 20 assists on 26 baskets.
"They (the Ducks) really broke
the game down to a one on one
game for them with Shantay doing
a lot of the dribbling, a lot of the
ball handling, a lot of the driving
because we took the options away
from their sets they were trying to
run," Kent said. "That is awesome
to do that in a first ball game."
Kent made a point to praise his
players on their defensive efforts, in
cluding Crosswhite and center
Mitch Platt.
Kent also spoke of guard Andre
Joseph as being one of Oregon's
top defensive threats on the
perimeter, saying "he's very valu
able for us defensively."
McArthur Court at its best
It was the 10th consecutive sellout
for the Ducks when they played Fres
no State. It was the first season-open
ing sellout for Oregon since 1978.
As the 9,087 in attendance filed
into McArthur Court on Friday
evening, senior forward Luke lackson
knew it was going to be a good one.
"liven before the game, you could
tell that the atmosphere in Mac
Court was going to be really good,"
Jackson said. "When you have that,
everybody just is extra into the
game. It was so loud in there."
Students lined up early before the
game so that a select few could re
ceive the coveted Pit Crew T-shirts
that are given out each year. The Pit
Crew didn't disappoint.
At one point in the second half,
the Pit Crew and Oregon fans were
asked to stop jumping up and down
during a I resno State free throw that
caused the backboard to shake.
Kent was excited about the charis
ma that the crowd brought so early
on in the season.
"I thought the crowd was just
tremendous in the game, for a first
game at Mac Court," he said. "What
an outstanding job they did."
Free throw woes
Kent found it hard to point out
things that Oregon didn't do right
after the season-opening win. But
free throws were one issue that
could be brought up.
Oregon's 60.9 free throw percent
age against the Bulldogs was an im
provement from the 49.1 percent
figure during exhibitions.
Platt struggled in Oregon's opener,
shooting 2 of 9 from die foul line The
freshman ended his night at the char
ity stripe by missing seven in
a row.
"If you want to pick at something,
you can say we can continue to work
at Mitch Platt and his free throw
shooting and we'll do that," Kent said.
Contact the sports reporter
at jessethomas@dailyemerald.com.
VOLLEYBALL
continued from page 5
With no seniors and only two jun
iors, Oregon lacked the experience
needed to finish strong and pull
games out at the end. Ferreira com
pared the competition between the
inexperienced Ducks and the rest of
the conference to a junior varsity team
battling a varsity squad.
"If you take a junior varsity team
and play the varsity, I don't know who
could be successful," Ferreira said. "If
you put freshmen and sophomores
against the varsity football team,
they'd probably get crushed."
Though Oregon would have loved
to win at least one conference match,
the Ducks had several moral victories
during the season. After struggling
through the first half of the confer
ence schedule, Oregon made notice
able improvements down the stretch.
The Ducks won their first Pac-10 game
on Oct. 23 against then-No. 9 UCLA
at McArthur Court, proving to them
selves they had what it takes to com
pete with the nation's elite. The fol
lowing evening, Oregon took No. 1
USC to the brink in game one before
falling, 30-28. The Ducks set a season
high with 12.5 blocks against a team
that eventually had five players
named to the All-Pac-10 team.
Oregon closed out its home sched
ule with a heartbreaking loss to Arizona
Stale on Nov. 14. T he Ducks showed
potential, putting themselves in a posi
tion to win every game, but gave way to
the more experienced Sun Devils, 3-1
(30-28, 27-30, 30-28,30-28).
As the Ducks walked off the
McArthur Court floor, fans could be
heard groaning with heartache and de
spair, which in most cases is a bad
thing. This, however, wasn't your ordi
nary case. Despite entering the match
winless in 15 conference matches, Ore
gon had captured the hearts of fans
who believed the Ducks could win.
'litis support should carry into next sea
son when a more experienced Oregon
squad figures out how to not let such
close matches slip away.
With the 2003 season in the books,
Ferreira and his players have already ex
pressed excitement when looking for
ward to 2004. Oregon added depth at
the attacking positions for next season,
signing a pair of recruits to national let
ters of intent two weeks ago. lustine
Petry ofTrumansburg N.Y., and Karen
Waddington of tangly, British Colum
bia, are both 6-foot-2 middle blockers
that will instantly make the Ducks a
more explosive team.
Oregon will also have plenty of tal
ent coming back. Outside hitter Lau
ren Westendorf and libero Katie
O'Neil will return as senior leaders.
Outside hitter Sarah Mason estab
lished herself as one of the Pac-10's
lop attackers this season en route to
being named to the Pac-10 All-Fresh
man Team.
Oregon's future is a bright one and
can be attributed to Ferreira and the
hard work he's gotten from his young
squad.
"We commend Carl for the changes
he made this season," Westendorf
said. "Everything was more comfort
able. This was my favorite season of
collegiate volleyball. I'm so much
happier than I've ever been."
Contact the sports reporter
atjonroetman@dailyemerald.com.
WOMEN
continued from page 5
assists. In Oregon's three games
this season, Mizusawa is averaging
10.7 assists.
"She's a silent killer," Smith
said. "She did a great, great job. 1
thought she made some very
smart plays, particularly towards
the end."
In the first game of the season,
Mizusawa had 13 assists against
Valparaiso. She now accounts
for two of the top 10 spots for
single-game assists in Oregon's
history just three games into her
first season as a Duck.
Freshman forward Jessica
Shetters and sophomore guard
Chelsea Wagner saw their first
on-court action as Ducks, with
Shetters grabbing two rebounds
and Wagner getting two steals.
"Jessie came in and did some
very good things," Smith said.
"Chelsea didn't shoot that well,
she's a shooter and I think she
was so excited that she almost
shot one all the way back to Eu
gene. But what the young lady
did was came in and she got
two steals and she really flus
tered them."
Shetters, Wagner and their team
mates return to action Friday and
Saturday in the Oregon Classic at
McArthur Court. Oregon takes on
Kansas at 8 p.m. on Friday and
North Carolina State at 8:30 p.m.
on Saturday.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.corn.
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