Women’s Volleyball: Civil War Kicks Off Pac-10 Second Half

Oregon leads the all-time Civil War series against the Beavers, 55-40-1, including a 3-1 win on Sept. 29th earlier this season. The Ducks’ last win at OSU was Oct. 20th, 2000.

Photo courtesy: goducks.com

EUGENE - The Oregon Ducks (15-4, 5-4 Pac-10) start the second half of the Pac-10 season with a trip to Corvallis Friday to take on Oregon State in the lone match of the week for both schools.

Oregon will be looking for a sweep of this year’s Civil War.

THE WEEK THAT WAS:

The Ducks split a pair of matches in the Bay Area, taking down then No. 8 California, 3-1, before bowing out against No. 3 Stanford, 0-3. UO’s win against the Golden Bears was its first against a top 10 team since 1989 (No. 6 Stanford).

ABOUT THE DUCKS:

The Oregon volleyball team welcomes seven newcomers and returns six players from last season’s squad, which finished 12-18 overall, 1-17 in the Pac-10 Conference. Among the returnees are SO OH Mira Djuric, a Pac-10 All-Freshman team member in 2005, and SO L Katie Swoboda, who earned honorable mention Pac-10 All-Freshman status.

HEAD COACH JIM MOORE:

Oregon head coach Jim Moore is in his second season in Eugene and 18th overall as a collegiate head coach. In his inaugural campaign at UO, Moore led the Ducks to their highest win total (12) and winning percentage (.400) in 14 seasons. Moore has compiled an overall mark of 379-178 (.680) during a career that has also included stops at Northern Michigan, Kansas State, Texas and Chico State. His 1993 Northern Michigan team won the NCAA II National Championship.

SCOUTING OREGON STATE:

The Beavers (3-15, 0-9) went through the first round of Pac-10 matches without a win and come into Friday’s Civil War on a nine-match losing streak. Oregon State has won just three games in nine conference matches, but one of those came in a 3-1 loss to the Ducks on Sept. 29th. OSU’s last victory was a 3-0 home sweep of Fresno State on Sept. 9th.

The Beavers’ other wins this season have come against Oral Roberts and San Diego State. FR OH Rachel Rourke leads the Beavers and ranks fifth in the Pac-10 in kills, averaging 4.21 per game. SR OH Brittany Cahoon averages 2.71 kills and 2.12 digs per game. OSU’s current roster sits at 16 players, although 18 different Beavers have seen the court in 2006. Oregon State is coached by former U.S. Olympic women’s volleyball coach Taras “Terry” Liskevych, who is in his second season in Corvallis. Under Liskevych, the Beavers are 14-28 overall and 7-20 in the Pac-10.

NO RESPECT:

If it doesn’t happen after beating at top 10 team on the road (No. 8 Cal), one has to wonder if it’s going to take the volleyball equivalent of a “Triple Lindy” for the Ducks to break into the AVCA/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Rodney Dangerfield of the Pac-10, Oregon’s four losses have come against teams ranked No. 3, No. 7, No. 5 and No. 3, respectively.

RESPECT: The Ducks are ranked among the top 25 in two other college volleyball polls. Oregon is No. 25 in the RickKern.com Volleyball Poll and No. 18 in the Pablo Rankings.

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