Sports
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, November 3, 2005
“I don’t think they’re going to send
me to Alcatraz. ”
Nebraska football coach Bill Callahan about possible
disciplinary action after his apparent throat-slashing
gesture in the Huskers’ game versus Oklahoma.
■ In my opinion
JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
THREE TO WIN
New year,
new faces,
new styles,
same results
Flashes came in spurts: the inside power
move, the stop and smooth mid-range
jumper, and baskets made in transition.
The University of Oregon women’s basket
ball team is different than last year’s. Success
will be defined by contributions team-wide.
Last year’s squad had Cathrine Kraayeveld
and Andrea Bills, and that worked too. Suc
cess came with an NCAA Tournament win
against TCU and second round appearance
against eventual champion Baylor.
This year, Oregon is deep and coach Bev
Smith said she plans to have a large rotation.
The move this season to start earlier with an
exhibition game on Halloween night against
the University of British Columbia helped.
New point guard Kaela Chapdelaine started
and dished out 10 assists. Gabrielle Richards
scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
And the list goes on and on.
Each player brings something different and
many things similar. Brandi Davis and
Chelsea Wagner are threats. Cicely Oaks and
Kedzie Gunderson provide strong on-ball de
fense. New guard Tamika Nurse possesses
breakneck speed. Post players Carolyn Ganes
and Richards showed they can stretch oppos
ing defenses with mid-range shooting.
More telling, Oregon had 10 of its 11 play
ers in uniform score at least two points and
five players had four or more rebounds.
“We have a lot of people that can come in
and contribute in different ways,” Smith said.
Teams win all the time without a main go
to player, i.e. men’s National Champion
North Carolina, who had a collection of tal
ented players, but no one player that stood
above the rest. It just means Oregon needs
performances team-wide. When one player
struggles, another needs to step up.
It helps to have players buy into the
idea. Last season’s success and enticement
for further success should make any sacri
fice worthwhile.
Lone freshman Nurse is making the transi
tion to Division I basketball. Against British
Columbia on one break, she collided with a
defender and came down with the ball off her
leg for a turnover. During another possession,
Nurse collided with a defender at the free
throw line and was called for a charge. She
adjusted. Again, Nurse sprinted up court.
This time she stopped and swished a mid
range jumper.
The pieces are there and Oregon has op
portunities to gel with seven contests in
cluding the two exhibitions within
McArthur Court.
If Oregon can come together, watch out.
The Pac-10 media poll predicts Oregon will
finish fifth, but that’s assuming Oregon strug
gles without Kraayeveld and Bills. Here’s say
ing they won’t.
idransfeldt@dailyemerald.com
■ Duck volleyball
Kelly Russell, pictured here two weeks ago, tips the ball against Washington. Russell has 282 kills so far this season.
Zane Ritt | Photographer
Opportunities abound for wins
With the toughest part of its season behind it, Oregon enters the
homestretch looking to scratch together a few more victories
BY JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
SPORTS REPORTER
Road games are being replaced by the comforts
of home for the University of Oregon volleyball
team. Entering November, Oregon plays six of its
final eight matches at McArthur Court.
Oregon’s home stretch starts tonight with
Southern California at 7 p.m. UCLA visits Friday
at the same time. These first two matches are fol
lowed by matches with Portland State and rival
Oregon State on Nov. 8 and 10, respectively.
The schedule, with a single road trip left to
face Washington State and Washington, gives
Oregon (11-11, 1-10 Pac-10 Conference)
winnable matches and possibility of a winning
record for the first time since 1990, coach Jim
Moore said. Oregon finished 15-14 that season
under then-coach Gerry Gregory.
Oregon enters tonight coming off losses to No.
5 Stanford and No. 15 California last weekend.
Matches finished quickly with each ending in
three games. Characteristic of this year’s team,
Oregon’s loss to Cal featured 22 attack errors and
12 service errors. Earlier this season, Oregon test
ed Cal as it stretched the match to four games and
almost a fifth.
“We want to play hard,” Oregon libero
Stephanie Alleman said. “We know there are
teams like Cal we have a chance to beat and play
with. For some reason, it just wasn’t our night.”
Alleman has been a steady contributor all sea
son. She had 15 digs against Stanford and 17
against Cal in place of injured libero Katie Swo
boda. Moore said Swoboda was cleared Monday
to play and will return tonight.
“Stephanie’s done great things all year long in
terms of stepping in and playing a lot of different
positions,” Moore said. “She’s basically been the
first person off the bench all year long. ”
All season long Moore has emphasized Ore
gon’s need to focus on its side of the net and
avoid unnecessary service and attack errors. With
increased fan support at McArthur Court this sea
son, Moore said Oregon needs a performance
worth supporting.
“Hopefully we do the things that we’re capa
ble of doing just for those people that have been
coming to the matches and making our lives a lot
easier,” he said.
Opportunities are there. Portland State end
ed Oregon’s five game unbeaten streak to start
the season. Oregon led two games against Ore
gon State before collapsing. Oregon beat Wash
ington State at home. Oregon matches up well
with Arizona State.
Oregon needs do things offensively in these
matches it has missed in Pac-10 play — things it
VOLLEYBALL page 14
■ Duck golf
Fall season comes to a dose in Las Vegas
Ducks tie for eighth in the Nevada tournament; were led by
junior Therese Wenslow's 21st place finish with a 3-over 75
BY SPENCER CRUM
FREELANCE REPORTER
The 27th-ranked Oregon women’s golf team
played earlier this week against the country’s
best in Henderson, Nev., and gave a strong per
formance. The women finished tied for eighth
with Missouri.
“The field is a very good one,” Oregon head
coach Shannon Rouillard said about their field.
“We’ll see some different teams, since there’s
fewer from the Pac-10, but the quality should be
equal to the Ihlanfeldt tournament. The course
is a desert one, on the side of a mountain. The
wind can blow, so hopefully we’ll have some
decent weather, and the ball will roll. We’ll
have to continue to focus on target golf and
keep the golf physical.”
The tournament comprised three top 10
teams: No. 2 UCLA, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 6
Arkansas, and seven others, including Oregon,
in the top 50. These included No. 11 UNLV, No.
23 Arizona, No. 28 Kent State, No. 30 Missouri,
No. 31 Notre Dame, No. 33 BYU and No. 45
TCU. The rest of the teams were SMU, UC
Irvine, Colorado State, Eastern Washington and
Oklahoma to make up the 16-team field.
In the overall standings, redshirt junior
Therese Wenslow led the Ducks after two
rounds after she shot a 3-over 75. She
continued her strong tournament by sinking
three birdies including two on the back nine.
Wenslow, who is regarded as Oregon’s top
threat whenever she steps on the course, end
ed the tournament tied for 21st. After sitting
out 2004-05 with an injury, Wenslow showed
her resolve with a great performance this week.
Wenslow was the only Duck to break par on
the par 72, 6,207-yard course with her first
round 71 Monday, and followed with a 75 sec
ond-round Tliesday.
Senior Erin Andrews took her 5-over on Hal
loween, and finished one over on the next two
rounds. Andrews equaled Wenslow’s score for
the day, and held even for the last round. An
drews also owned the Ducks’ best score on
Tbesday (73), after she shot an opening-round
77 Monday. She too knocked in three birdies —
GOLF, page 14