Originally posted on CampusAttic.com on December 5th, 2013
Last
year, Oregon Volleyball’s improbable run through the Pac-12 and NCAA
Tournament, losing in the title game to Texas, culminated in a #2 overall
finish. Led by Oregon’s first AVCA National Player of the Year, Alaina Bergsma,
it was a storybook run from a program that has emerged recently as a major
power in the country’s premiere volleyball conference under coach Jim Moore.
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| Oregon has reached the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in school history. (courtesy: Pit Crew) |
With Bergsma having graduated and other key players such as Kat Fischer gone
from last year’s runners-up squad, the question was how would the 2013 team
replace and reload to continue the success of 2012, the most successful year in
school history (30-5).
Enter
Liz Brenner, Oregon’s do-everything four-sport star, who earned 1st team
All-Pac-12 honors for the second-straight year. The junior has emerged as the
team’s clear-cut leader, a dominating outside hitter with the most powerful
rocket arm in the conference, aided in part by her javelin work on the track
& field team.
Liz Brenner’s conference-leading 4.57 kills/set is good enough for 10th overall
in the nation, and has earned a well-deserved #BrennerSMASH cult-status twitter
meme and baseball-esque K count at Matt Knight Arena during matches with each
booming kill. Before coming to Oregon, Liz was a multi-time national champion
in badminton. Her older sister was an athlete at Oregon State, while her
brother Doug is a redshirt freshman on the Oregon football team.
The
2013 campaign wasn’t perfect by any means for the Oregon volleyball team,
coming off such a brilliant previous year. The team experienced a rough
three-week stretch late, going 2-5 starting in late October, and senior setter
Lauren Plum missed a portion of the season due to injury. The 2012 Pac-12
setter of the year, Plum’s point guard-like distribution has kept team’s on
their toes her whole career, earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors in
2013, alongside fellow-senior Ariana Williams. Freshman Amanda Benson also
received conference honors, being named to the All-Freshman team, averaging 4.71
digs/set in 2013, a new team record.
While
Brenner may stand out, Oregon plays a very well-rounded team game. Leading the
Pac-12 in assists/set, while 11th in the nation in kills and 29th in digs, Jim
Moore’s system keeps teams guessing, playing disciplined fast-paced volleyball.
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| Coach Jim Moore speaks to his team during a timeout. (courtesy: Ducknews.com) |
It
has been a steady rise for Oregon volleyball under Coach Jim Moore, now in his
8th season at the helm of the program. Prior to Moore’s arrival, it had been 14
years since the Ducks had finished with a winning record, much less a NCAA
Tournament invite.
In the time since Moore’s arrival in Eugene, Oregon has amassed five seasons of
20+ victories, while earning regional and national coaching accolades along the
way for his efforts and grooming multiple All-Pac-12 and All-American
student-athletes.
The
1993 AVCA Division II National Coach of the Year, Moore has tutored 28
All-Americans, three National Players of the Year, two Olympians, and a 1993
Division II National Championship squad during his storied career; which
includes stops at Northern Michigan, Kansas State, Texas, and Chico State. A
firm believer in the student aspect of “student-athlete”, Oregon volleyball has
repeatedly earned AVCA Academic Team Awards and individual Academic
All-American honorees, including two this year earning Pac-12 All-Academic
honors — Shellsy Ashen and Bethany Bair.
Entering
the 2013 campaign with a #8 preseason ranking, the team did manage to rebound
from the tough mid-year stretch by winning their last five matches, finishing
19-11 (12-8 in conference) on the year ranked #25, good enough for a 4th place
finish in the Pac-12 behind traditional powerhouses Washington, Stanford, and
USC.
Their
season was good enough to be invited to the NCAA Tournament once more, the
seventh such appearance in the big dance in the past eight years. Yet despite
the consistency, only once (2012) has Oregon advanced past the sweet 16
regional, last year being the shocker of the tournament reaching the title
game. Texas exposed Oregon in that title match though as a team lacking height,
constantly blocked at the net and unable to return the favor, the Ducks were
swept in straight sets. Finding a consistent block remains a problem Oregon has
to solve to have any hopes of repeating last year’s accomplishments.
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|
Oregon
has been on a roll entering the NCAA Tournament, riding a 5-game winning
streak. (courtesy: Pac-12.com)
|
While
it may have been an up-and-down year, the rigors of playing in the toughest
conference in the country has molded this team into focused seasoned veterans,
playing well entering the tournament riding a five-match winning streak. To
advance, Oregon must get past Miami (19-11), the 51st ranked team in the
nation, in the opening round Friday at 2:30 p.m. (PT) in Lincoln, NE.
It
is the 11th all-time appearance of the Oregon volleyball team in the NCAA
Tournament. Miami has been on a streak of its own, this its fifth-straight
season of reaching the NCAA Tournament. Oregon and Miami have never previously
met in women’s volleyball.
The
key for Oregon, much like with the vaunted Duck football team, is getting an
early start and overwhelming teams with their fast-paced style of play, forcing
opponents to come from behind…c’mon, this is Oregon, would we honestly expect
anything less? In 16 of Oregon’s 19 victories on the year, the Ducks won the
first set, going on to win 12 of those matches in straight sets, never losing a
match after taking the early lead.
Miami
is a team that also distributes the ball evenly, led by setter Blair Fuentez
(10.05 assists/set). Outside hitter Savannah Leaf (3.82 kills/set) is the most
potent finisher in the Miami attack, but much like with Oregon, the Hurricanes
keep team’s guessing as to where the attack will be coming from. Pressure will
be on Oregon’s freshman phenom libero Amanda Benson to keep the ball off the
floor along the back row when the ball gets past Oregon’s blockers Ariana
Williams and Canace Finley.
Should
Oregon advance past Miami, a tall task is in order, likely playing the #8
Nebraska Cornhuskers in the next round on their homecourt in Lincoln on
Saturday. The regional semi-finals take place in Lincoln, NE Dec. 13-14th, with
the NCAA Finals taking place in Seattle, WA Dec. 19-21st at Key Arena.
The
Oregon-Miami match Friday at 2:30 p.m. won’t have live TV coverage, but will be
carried online at www.huskers.com.
Follow @oregonvb on twitter for updates.
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| (courtesy: NCAA.com) |
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