University of Oregon
Hawaii
Ducks NCAA Tourney Trip Cut Short, No. 12 Hawai'i Wins 3-0
12/02/06 | Women's Volleyball
LONG BEACH, Calif. – When camp breaks next August, the University of Oregon will have more to play for than usual. The Ducks will be out to prove their breakthrough season was indeed that, and they will look to march back into the NCAA tournament and show the volleyball world they belong.
Oregon completed its first winning season since 1990 on Saturday, falling to No. 12 Hawai'i 0-3 in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The Ducks (17-12) went down 17-30, 17-30 and 18-30 to the top-seeded Rainbow Wahine (27-5).
“I know this sounds funny, but this is something we had to go through to take the next step,” said Jim Moore, less than a week removed from being selected Pac-10 Coach of the Year by his peers. “We made incredible strides this year and while I didn't expect us to go out in the first round, this experience and understanding the level and pace of the NCAA Tournament was vital to the team's continued growth.”
It's not hard to envision the Ducks as a stronger side in 2007, considering they will have the services of redshirt junior Gorana Maricic, a NCAA II All-American at Northwood University. Add to Maricic a stellar recruiting class and the long and athletic Kristen Forristall, also a junior newcomer, and UO has the makings of a Top 25 program the minute the first serve is launched next August.
“I'm very encouraged and excited about the team we have going forward,” Moore said. “But the reason we are headed in that direction is because of the three seniors who are leaving us. This is not an overnight process and their effort this year will pay dividends for seasons to come.”
Hawai'i, the 12th-seeded team in the field of 64, had a formidable team to be certain, but the Ducks didn't help their own cause in this one. Oregon hit into one block after another and failed to hit a positive percentage.
Jamie Houston led the way for the Rainbow Wahine with 15 kills and nine total blocks. Oregon received seven kills apiece from Sonja Newcombe and Mira Djuric.
“We never got into a rhythm tonight,” said Newcombe, a Pac-10 All-Freshman choice. “We prepared for this as if it was any other match, but we were not able to get in sync and failed to adjust.”
The silver lining for UO, according to Moore, is that Newcombe and her 10 returning teammates will have the opportunity to play December volleyball again. And when they do, it won't be as the team with a history of losing that is making the big dance for the first time in two decades, but as the Oregon Ducks, an NCAA tournament team from the Pac-10 Conference.
QUACK TRACKS: SO L Katie Swoboda moved into fifth place on the career digs list at Oregon and now has 1,013 ... She also increased her record single-season digs mark to 565.
NCAA MATCH QUOTE SHEET
Oregon Head Coach Jim Moore
“I'm real disappointed in the way we came out tonight.
I don't want to take anything away from Hawai'i, but
we certainly struggled, and we didn't play well at
all. We hit right into their block, and we passed
poorly. I know we can play significantly better than
that.”
Katie Swoboda, Oregon Libero
“Hawaii played great. We couldn't get into any kind of
rhythm tonight.”
Hawai'i Head Coach Dave Shoji
“This is probably the best we've played all year.” We
blocked well and passed well. The key to this victory
was our passing. Our two freshmen (Kaufman and Lee)
played extremely well.”
Kari Gregory, Hawai'i Middle Blocker
“We were really focused tonight. We knew what they
were going to bring to the table. When we are focused
we are a hard team to beat.”
