Sports
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thesday, October 25, 2005
“Most football players are temperamental.
That's 90 percent temper and
10 percent mental. ”
Doug Plank, a former safety with the Chicago Bears,
now a coach in the Arena Football League.
■ In my opinion
LUKE ANDREWS
EXCESSIVE CELEBRATION
Clemens'
injury no
excuse for
Ducks
With 7:54 remaining in the third quarter of Sat
urday’s 28-21 win over Arizona, Oregon’s football
season took a dramatic turn as one of its senior
leaders, quarterback Kellen Clemens, lay face
down on the Arizona Stadium turf after being
dragged down by the Wildcats’ Copeland Bryan.
The diagnosis: a season-ending ankle injury.
While disbelief and heartache sank in for most
Oregon enthusiasts, head coach Mike Bellotti
may have summed it up best.
“Obviously, Kellen’s loss is tremendous to us
because, I think, he’s playing as good as anyone
in the nation. Certainly, there’s nobody more
valuable to their team. ”
He had become the poster boy for Oregon foot
ball — a homegrown kid, leading the resurgent
Ducks to a 7-1 record and a top-15 national rank
ing his senior season.
He had recently been named a finalist for the
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the
nation’s top senior quarterback, and he was on
pace to break many of Oregon’s passing records.
No doubt, Kellen Clemens will be missed
— not simply for his on-field skills, but his
leadership and off-field charisma as well.
Let’s hope his injury and mere presence on
the sideline will become a rallying point for
the Ducks’ final three games.
ANDREWS, page 12
■ Duck volleyball
Ducks net first Pac-10 win vs. WSU
Mira Djuric's 17 kills lead
Oregon past WSU for their first
home league win in five years
BY JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
SPORTS REPORTER
The breakthrough the Oregon volleyball
team desperately needed arrived Saturday
night in a three-game sweep of visiting
Washington State.
One night after Oregon fell to No. 2 Wash
ington and lost libero Katie Swoboda to an
injury, Oregon ended a streak of nearly five
years without a home win in the Pacific-10
Conference. Saturday marked Oregon’s first
conference win at McArthur Court since Nov.
9, 2000 against Washington.
It wasn’t pretty as both teams combined for
50 attack errors.
“We were tense the whole night, and I
thought we played very mediocre,” head coach
Jim Moore said. “To play that anxiously and
fontatively, and still pull it out, I thought was
very, very good.”
This was the performance Moore wanted to
start conference play against Arizona State.
Halfway through the conference schedule, it
doesn’t get easier for the Ducks, with visits to
No. 15 California and No. 5 Stanford on Thurs
day and Friday, respectively.
Saturday, though, Oregon cherished the
emotional win. Seniors Kelly Russell and Jaclyn
Jones had never before had the experience.
Russell made sure Oregon did by recording six
of her 10 kills in the deciding game three.
Oregon had fallen behind 25-23, when
Moore called a time-out. Russell and Karen
Waddington combined for five of Oregon’s last
seven points in the 31-29 match-deciding win.
More importantly, Oregon recovered after giv
ing up a late lead, something it didn’t do
against Cal, Oregon State and others.
Stephanie Alleman said they work on
fighting back during a deficit through drills
in practice.
“We knew we could come back,” Alleman
said. “We just had to settle down and make the
right plays and we did it. ”
Sometimes wins come down to breaks,
getting points at opportune moments and
Kate Horton | photographer
Jaclyn Jones powers the kill past Washington State’s blockers Saturday. The Ducks’ win over the Cougars was
their first home league win since 2000.
successful teams can do that, Moore said.
“That’s a huge thing,” Moore said of coming
back. “And that’s the problem ... that could
have turned around. In reality, you need a little
luck and we got a little lucky. ”
With Alleman filling in effortlessly, as Rus
sell described it, and steady, as Moore said,
Oregon won with normal starter Swoboda side
lined after her head collided with Russell’s knee
in a game against Washington. Oregon officials
called the injury a concussion.
Swoboda watched Oregon win, appearing
anxious to play, one night after she left in the
third game in obvious pain as teammates and
coaches looked on.
“It will be a day-to-day thing and the doctors
will evaluate her and see what happens,”
Moore said.
Currently, her status for the next two match
es is unclear. Swoboda has responded daily to
treatment, said assistant director of media serv
ices Andy McNamara.
Alleman, who had 18 digs, dedicated the
match to Swoboda.
“Katie is a great player and she makes
VOLLEYBALL page 10
■ Duck soccer
Foul-plagued Civil War match goes to Oregon State
Nicole Barker I Senior photographer
Oregon midfielder Taylor Callan (4) battles with an Oregon State player for the ball Friday. The Ducks lost
4-2 to their in-state rival and are still in search of their first league victory this season.
Defensive letdown dooms Oregon as the Beavers send the Ducks to their
fifth consecutive defeat, and fourth loss in five games against their rivals
BY SCOTTI. ADAMS
SPORTS REPORTER
Seniors Caitlin Gamble and Nicole Garbin
made the most of their final Civil War game Fri
day, scoring both of Oregon’s goals against Ore
gon State in Corvallis. However, the Beavers’ of
fense was too much to handle for the Ducks,
who fell 4-2, marking their fifth-straight loss (8
6-1 overall, 0-5-0 conference).
On Wednesday, senior defender Katie Abra
hamson said she expected the game with Ore
gon State (9-5-1,2-2-1) to be physical and laden
with fouls. The game Friday did not disappoint.
There were 40 fouls called and nine yellow
cards issued, but no players were ejected from
the game.
The Beavers got on the scoreboard first in the
29th minute when several Oregon defenders
failed to clear a loose ball from their goal box.
Capitalizing on the Ducks’ mistake was Jodie
Taylor, who found herself with the ball in a one
on-one situation with Oregon’s goalkeeper
Jessie Chatfield. Taylor’s shot found the net,
giving the Beavers their first lead of the game
and ending a 318-minute scoreless drought for
the sophomore forward.
The Ducks struck back in the 40th minute
when Gamble beat Oregon State goalkeeper
Melissa Onstad with a close-range shot. Gamble’s
teammates Tiffany Smith and Sabrina DeMonte
were both credited with assists. For Gamble, a
senior midfielder from Salt Lake City, it was her
fourth goal of the season and gave the Ducks
new hope, tying the game at 1 -1.
“It felt good to tie things up,” Gamble said. “The
goals that we had were awesome. Obviously goals
are what matters most and they had more than us,
I think we could have scored more. ”
The joy on Oregon’s bench in light of the tie
was short-lived as Whitney Goodell of Oregon
State defied an off-side trap by the Oregon de
fenders and drove home a shot past Chatfield 71
seconds after Gamble’s equalizer. It was a con
troversial play and was met with criticism from
Oregon head coach Tara Erickson, who felt that
SOCCER, page 12