Freshman Vander Weide Already In Elite Company
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
The Oregon volleyball team returns to Matthew Knight Arena this weekend looking for an upset that will kickstart its season. If that alone isn’t an enticement to see the Ducks play, against No. 10 UCLA on Friday evening and top-ranked USC on Sunday afternoon, freshman Lindsey Vander Weide is quickly proving to be worth the price of admission herself.
The top-rated member of Oregon’s most recent recruiting class, Vander Weide has begun to realize her considerable talent as fast as any player Jim Moore has coached in 11 years at the program’s helm.
Vander Weide is as versatile as recent UO star Liz Brenner, leading the Ducks in total kills (209), compiling a .963 passing efficiency when receiving serve, and accumulating the second-most blocks (37) entering Friday’s 6 p.m. match against the Bruins. All of that makes her more valuable at this point in her career, Moore said, than even the venerated Sonja Newcombe, who helped propel the Ducks into national relevance early in Moore’s tenure.
“She’s better than Sonja was as a freshman,” Moore said of Vander Weide. “That’s a big statement.”
Vander Weide’s production has been critical for a team weathering a rough patch in recent weeks for its most experienced attacker, Martenne Bettendorf. Vander Weide is second behind Bettendorf in kills per set this season, at 3.32, but leads the Ducks in Pac-12 play with 3.87.
No. 25 Oregon has opened the conference slate 4-4, and is 10-7 overall. A win this weekend, over the No. 1 Women of Troy or 10th-ranked UCLA, would provide some momentum entering the second round of Pac-12 play, as the Ducks fight for their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in Moore’s 11 years.
Moore met with media Wednesday to discuss the weekend matchups, and if the practice before that interview was any indication, Vander Weide is prepared to continue setting the tone for the Ducks. Not typically one of the team’s better practice performers, Vander Weide had what she and Moore agreed was her best practice since arriving in Eugene.
“She was scary today,” Moore said. “She just said, ‘I’m passing everything.’ And stepped in and was on the money. Somebody who can pass like her and hit like her, there’s not very many.”
Moore and his assistants grade players in practice using a plus-minus system like that utilized in hockey; as often as not, Vander Weide finishes practice with a negative score. Having just turned 18-years old Monday, Vander Weide has plenty of room to mature, and Wednesday’s practice may have been yet another example of her growth this fall.
“I know I can do that every time,” she said. “I just need to refocus; that’s my problem, is not refocusing after doing something bad. Sometimes I’ll get down on myself, and (Moore) will tell me, ‘Shake it off and move on to the next play.’ That’s hard for me, but it’s definitely something I’m learning.”
Vander Weide said, too, that she uses practice to work through mistakes, not to try to avoid them completely.
“My mindset in practice is, this is the time to get better,” she said. “Sometimes you’re going to be really bad. Try to make yourself and everybody better. And if not, ball up in the games.”
She’s certainly done the latter with regularity. Vander Weide endured a rough day at Washington State this past Sunday, hitting minus-.069, but making up for it with 12 digs and tying her season high with four blocks. Her eight kills against the Cougars broke a streak of five straight Pac-12 matches with at least 13, which didn’t include her career-high 25 at Oregon State on Sept. 24.
Given how much the Ducks were leaning on her early, Moore kept Vander Weide out of the service rotation. That changed five matches ago, and Vander Weide has responded with 10 aces since, including four at California on Oct. 9.
“I was trying to take some stuff off her plate,” Moore said. “But we need it.”
Vander Weide has been so good of late, she’s already drawing comparisons to recent legends of the program such as Newcombe and Brenner. The question becomes, will she keep improving over the course of her career at the remarkable rate they did?
“For sure there are a lot of hints of that,” Moore said. “But we’ll figure that out over time.”
For now, Moore and the Ducks are more than pleased with the production of their fabulous freshman.
