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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2004)
Sports Editor Hank Hager hankhager@dailyemerald.com Thursday, January 8,2004 -Oregon Daily Emerald SPORTS Best bet NHL: N.Y. Rangers vs. Carolina 4 p.m., ESPN2 Lincoln set for first career start against OSU Adam Amato Photo Editor Brandon Lincoln will assume the starting point guard position when Oregon visits Oregon State bn Saturday. It will the Portland native’s his first career start. The sophomore guard played 26 minutes after Aaron Brooks went out with an injury against UCLA in a loss last week By Hank Hager Sports Editor At first glance, the injury to Aaron Brooks during Oregon's loss to UCLA looks like it will throw a wrench into MEN'S BASKETBALL still have a strong season. The sophomore is slated to earn his first career start against Oregon State on Saturday in Corvallis. He filled in for Brooks after the injury, scored three points and dished out three assists in 26 minutes against the Bruins. "The UCLA game was kind of tough because we were kind of in a fog," Lin coln said. "UCLA was getting a lot of things done on us. Basically, I just canie in and tried to be solid, but I could have done a lot more." The Ducks say they feel comfortable Turn to START, page 14 Oregon's postsea son plans. But if Brandon Lincoln has any thing to say about it, the team will Disappointing season inspires Club volleyball for successful new year The Club is looking forward to competing at Nationals in early April in North Carolina By Kirsten McEwen Freelance Reporter Last year was disappointing for Ore gon's Club volleyball team after it won back-to-back national championships in 2001 and 2002. Club Sports "We had lots of talent but not a lot of heart and de sire," Club coordi nator Jessica Mae Van Ourkerk said. "It seemed like people just did not want to be there." Van Ourkerk predicts 2004 will be a different year with a better outcome, however. "I have a really good feeling about this year and so I think all of us are re ally excited," Van Ourkerk said. "Right now we just need to work some kinks out because a lot of us haven't played together for very long." Oregon's first chance to compete as a team came Sunday when the Ducks challenged women's teams from around the Northwest. Oregon com peted against teams composed of ex collegiate players and alumni from different schools. The Ducks lost in the first round, but Van Ourkerk stressed that the experience, instead of the outcome, was what the team cared about most. Oregon returns only four players from last year's squad. Ten players were chosen to join the team in the fall after more than 30 women participated in tryouts. "Most of the new girls are freshmen and sophomores, so we are a young team," Van Ourkerk said. "Even though we are a bit inexperienced, we seem to have lots of drive, heart and talent, which is always a big plus." Oregon will continue to play in a va riety of different tournaments in Port land throughout January. The Ducks will then travel to UC Davis on Feb. 13 to compete in the Far Western Tourna ment. Last year, the Ducks finished in second place at the tournament and in first place in 2001. Oregon hopes to use the Far Western Tournament to gauge their improve ment and to fine-tune their skills for Nationals, which will be held in Char lotte, N.C., from April 2-4. In the meantime, the Ducks will continue to practice three times a week and will focus not only on improving but on bringing a national champi onship back to Oregon. Let it snow Oregon's snowboarding club eager ly awaits snow each year, and this year the snow came early and in large amounts. As of now, it looks as if it will be around for quite some time, at least on nearby mountains. The snowboarding club provides students transportation to the moun tains. For a one-time fee of $30, Uni versity students are provided with transportation to and from Willamette Pass, Mt. Bachelor or Mt. Hood Mead ows. Snowboarders pay for their own lift ticket, however. The fee covers all transportation costs from the first week Turn to CLUB, page 16 Conference’s best battle when Arizona visits Stanford Stanford and Arizona face off Saturday with the best record in the Pacific-10 Conference on the line It may be early in the season, but Satur day will reveal a great deal about the bal ance of power in the Pacific-10 Confer ence. The Pac-10's top two teams battle in Palo Alto, Calif., when Arizona plays No. only two games this season, both to teams currently ranked in the top five. Arizona (11-3,3-0) has won 10 of its last 11 games and is hungry for an upset. Along with being pivotal to the final conference standings, Saturday's match up will double as a showcase of some of the nation's top talent. Stanford is led by senior forward Nicole Powell. The two time Kodak First Team All-American is second in the conference in scoring (20.2) and tops in rebounding (11.1). Arizona is powered by the duo of soph omore center Shawntinice Polk and jun ior guard Dee-Dee Wheeler. Each has tak en home a Pac-10 Freshman of the Year award while helping to turn the Wildcats into a conference power. At 6-foot-5 with a sturdy frame, Polk is virtually indefensible when she catches the ball in the low post. She is fourth in the conference in scoring (17.2) and third in rebounding (9.2). Wheeler, a First Team All-Pac-10 selection last season, is sixth in scoring at 16.9 points per game. By Jon Roetman Sports Reporter WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 7 Stanford. The three-time defend ing Pac-10 cham pion Cardinal (11 2 overall, 4-0 Pac-10) has lost Turn to DOMINANCE, page 16 Adam Amato Photo Editor Nicole Powell and Stanford take on Arizona in a Pacific-10 Conference tilt on Saturday. The Cardinal is favored to win the Pac-10 this season.
