Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, October 27, 2005
“I dunno. I never smoked
any AstroTurf. ”
Former MLB pitcher Tlig McGraw on whether
he preferred grass or AstroHirf.
■ In my opinion
JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
THREE TO WIN
ODE jinx?
Not with
Swoboda's
concussion
It’s not possible. Is it? Is there an Oregon Daily
Emerald jinx?
Maybe.
Seeing promising libero Katie Swoboda in ob
vious pain, the result of her head colliding with
Kelly Russell’s knee against No. 2 Washington’s
volleyball team Friday, didn’t help. Just that day I
wrote a feature in the Emerald detailing her com
petitive nature and accompanying injuries.
Oh, and I mentioned a concussion she sus
tained her junior year.
She got her second concussion Friday and sat
out the following night against Washington State.
Sports fans everywhere have heard of the
Sports Illustrated cover jinx, where athletes and
teams struggle after appearing on the
national publication.
The night after her injury, Swoboda sat court
side. Actually, hovered is more appropriate. The
freshman leaned forward, looking ready to sub in
an instant.
Knowing Swoboda, if there had been another
24 hours, she probably would have tried to imi
tate her recovery from a concussion as a high
school junior.
At that time, Swoboda was trying to get the ball
and she ran into a wall. Swoboda tried to get up
several times and go back in only to fall down
each time. Doctors checked Swoboda and 46
hours later, her mom assured that she was OK,
Swoboda played in a match.
Oregon’s team did what good teams do. They
covered for Swoboda.
It wasn’t pretty. Both teams combined for 50
attack errors.
But Oregon not only won, it swept Washing
ton State in three games. Game three featured
six Russell kills, when Oregon relinquished a
21-19 lead and trailed momentarily 26-24, be
fore winning 31-29.
In past games, such as the Civil War match,
Oregon lost leads and didn’t recover. Oregon had
seemingly insurmountable leads in two games
and lost.
“To be able to execute in the moments where
you kind of lose your confidence, cause in the
past you haven’t executed — to finally get that is
a huge confidence boost for everybody who has
... been struggling with that,” Russell said.
Maybe there isn’t a jinx. Maybe if Oregon had
lost, but they didn’t.
Saturday’s win gave Oregon the breakthrough
they desperately needed. The strong start they
wanted against Arizona State, against Arizona,
against Stanford ... you get the idea.
Beating Washington State isn’t going to save
Oregon’s season. They play at No. 14 Cal today
and Friday against No. 5 Stanford. Oregon returns
next week to face No. 19 USC and No. 21 UCLA
at McArthur Court.
The win has bigger implications. It gives Ore
gon and future teams confidence they can do it.
Oregon can win in the Pac-10 Conference.
That fact alone makes any jinx an
afterthought.
idransfeldt@dailyemercild.com
■ Duck volleyball
Next up for Ducks: Bay Area teams
After defeating WSU, Oregon seeks to maintain
its momentum against Stanford and Cal
BY JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
SPORTS REPORTER
Five days after Oregon beat Washington State to earn its first
home win in the Pacific-10 Conference in nearly five years, Oregon
has another opportunity for its second Pac-10 win.
Oregon plays at Stanford today at 7 p.m. and at Cal Friday at 7 p.m.
Cal presents an intriguing opportunity considering Oregon chal
lenged the then-No. 14 Golden Bears on Sept. 29. Oregon started
slow and lost its first two games, 30-25 and 30-16. They recovered
to win game three 30-28, but succumbed in game four, 33-31.
Mira Djuric matched her kill total of last Saturday night with a
match-high 17 kills against Cal. Senior Kelly Russell had 15 kills, a
0.316 hitting percentage and three service aces.
To prepare the team for Cal, Oregon head coach Jim Moore
showed the team film of the first match. When they finished he
asked his team what they saw. Responses came back: We hit balls
out of bounds, served too many balls out of bounds and didn’t
block very well.
“We didn’t play extremely well, but we played extremely hard
and that’s what we have to do,” Moore said.
The day after Oregon’s confidence-builder against Cal, the Ducks
lost in three to then-No. 3 Stanford. Oregon started strong, losing
game one by two points, 30-28, before losing games two and three
30-15 and 30-23, respectively. Djuric had 18 kills and Russell had
11. Libero Katie Swoboda had 13 digs.
Oregon played some of its best volleyball of the season that
weekend. The Ducks have played well against top programs and
then had difficulty with lesser opponents.
“We’re relaxed against the big level of competition,” Moore said.
“I think against the teams that we know we have to beat, that’s
where we’re struggling and that’s where you have to change that.”
Getting past that first win, Oregon’s biggest hurdle in conference
play, is huge, Swoboda said.
“It’ll help us relax a lot knowing that we can do this and stay
calm,” Swoboda added. “You got to start somewhere and I think
that is a good building block for our team.”
Stanford and Cal have problems themselves at the halfway point
of Pac-10 Conference play.
Promising Stanford freshman Cynthia Barboza is going to miss
the rest of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in
her left knee in a match against Cal last weekend. Barboza is sec
ond to Djuric in the conference with 297 kills to the Oregon fresh
man’s 300. Stanford (18-3 overall, 7-2 conference) maintains a hold
on second place in the conference behind No. 2 Washington and is
on a two-match winning streak.
Cal (13-5, 6-3) has lost consecutive matches to Stanford and Ari
zona. Angie Pressey is second in the conference in kills with 4.52
per game and Samantha Carter is third in assists with 13.22.
One win into the Pac-10, Oregon is focusing on maintaining
its momentum.
“We are going to be on a high from winning this game (against
Washington State), obviously and we are going to come out and we
can always play better against good teams and we play with them,
so we’re going to go down there and give them a run for their
Kate Horton | Photographer
Kelly Russell jumps for a kill in Oregon’s win against Washington State Saturday.
money,” Stephanie Alleman said.
Swoboda, after not playing against Washington State due to a con
cussion, said she hopes to be able to play today, but she is focusing
on returning next week when Oregon plays USC and UCLA at
McArthur Court.
Alleman will fill again as Moore said the junior fits in seamlessly.
Against Washington State, Alleman had 18 digs.
Tasha Demkiw filled in briefly when Swoboda first exited Oregon’s
sweep to Washington. Swoboda left toward the end of the third game
after her head collided with Russell’s knee.
“I have total confidence in everyone on my team,” Swoboda said.
“They’re just going to do as good a job. I’m not going to be selfish
about it. I knew they were going to do just fine. Even though I want
to be out there I got to get better first.”
jdransfeldt@dailyemercdd.com
■ Club fencing
Fencer fights to tourney championship
Josh Conner defeated all comers when he captured
the prestigious Leon Auriol Open in Seattle
BY WILL SEYMOUR
FREELANCE REPORTER
The trophy isn’t anything special to look at. It’s just a big silver
cup. The names engraved on it are a different story. The past champi
ons listed on this piece of hardware include legendary Olympians
and now a Duck. Oregon student Josh Conner defeated scores of ri
vals Sept. 24-25 in Seattle to take the title at the Leon Auriol Open,
one of the most prestigious fencing competitions in the western Unit
ed States. Two other members of the Oregon Fencing Club placed in
the top 15, raising the possibility of more championships in
the future.
The Leon Auriol Open holds a special place in the hearts of fencers
from the Pacific Northwest. The tournament’s namesake is a French
immigrant who gained notoriety coaching elite fencers in Washington,
Oregon and Canada before he branched out, giving lessons to any will
ing learner in the region. He is credited with developing the sport in
Seattle, Portland and beyond.
“All the fencers in the Northwest are linked to him,” Conner said.
At the Open, Oregon entered its first tournament of the year in the
mixed epee division, which featured 67 participants, the largest field
at the competition. Matches using the epee, French for sword, finish
either at the end of three three-minute rounds or when one fencer
reaches 15 “touches” or hits on the opponent. Touches can be scored
anywhere on the body with the epee, as opposed to the foil and
sabre, where points are recorded only on the chest.
Fencing tournaments are divided into two stages, pool play fol
lowed by a direct elimination bracket. Entrants are assigned a rank
ing based on their showing in previous tournaments, ranging from
A to E, with unranked fencers thrown in. The pools are formed so
that usually there is only one fencer of a particular rank in any given
pool. They then face off in a round-robin format using shortened
matches, in which the first person to five touches wins. The records
FENCING, page 14