Ducks Back in Action Against Northwest Rivals
EUGENE - The University of Oregon volleyball team looks ahead to a busy two weeks with a doubleheader in Corvallis this Saturday (4/9), and the six-team Spring Spike in Matthew Knight Arena next Saturday (4/16).
This Saturday, the Ducks head to Gill Coliseum for matches against Portland at 12:45 p.m. and Oregon State at 2:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for youth, and cash and checks are only accepted.
The following weekend, UO plays its first volleyball matches in Matthew Knight Arena when it hosts the Spring Spike, Saturday, April 16. Teams slated to compete include Oregon, Oregon State, Portland, Portland State, Eastern Washington, Western Washington and Seattle Pacific.
The event is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start, admission is free as is parking in the facility garage, and fans are asked to enter the north-side entrance facing Franklin Street.
This past fall, the youthful Duck squad overachieved in many ways and opened the 2010 campaign with a school record 14-match win streak en route to a season-high national ranking of 11th. It ended the year with a 19-11 overall mark – its fifth straight season with +17 wins (20-’09; 25-’08; 22-’07; 17-’06) for the first the first time since 1983-87.
Among returnees to watch this fall, setter Lauren Plum
was tabbed to the All-Pac-10 Freshman Team, while outside hitter Alaina Bergsma
was an All-Pac-10 honorable mention in her first season for the Ducks.
Since then, Bergsma and Plum were tabbed to the 36-person A2 National Team, and will compete in Dallas at the USA Volleyball Open National Championships, May 28-31.
Outside hitter Katherine Fischer is also a former All-Pac-10 Freshman Team choice, and her 14 double-doubles in 2010 is tops among Pac-10 returnees in 2011. In her first year as the starting libero, Haley Jacob logged the fifth-best digs total in a season (450), and middle blocker Ariana Williams ’ team season high for hitting in a match (.722) ranked fourth-best in the Pac-10.
Sixth-year head coach Jim Moore and the Ducks graduated only one player from last year’s roster, All-Pac-10 outside hitter Heather Meyers .
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