Ducks Open Season with No. 2 Texas in VERT Challenge

Both head coach Jim Moore and his UO volleyball team enter their season opener Friday night looking to exorcise some demons – although different demons, to be sure.

The 2016 Oregon volleyball season begins Friday against second-ranked Texas in Matthew Knight Arena (7 p.m., Pac-12 Networks). The match is part of the VERT Challenge, which opens Friday at 4 p.m. when Nebraska meets Florida in MKA; the Cornhuskers and Longhorns will play Saturday at 3:30 p.m., followed by the Ducks and Gators (6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).

Moore remains haunted by the ghost of 2012, when he coached the Ducks to the NCAA Tournament final. There, they lost in three games to Texas. Moore gets a chance to even the score Friday.

"We owe 'em," Moore said. "That's who beat us in the national championship match. This is a big deal."

Oregon's roster, however, doesn't include any players left from that match. For the current Ducks, the 2016 opener is the first opportunity to put behind them a 2015 season that didn't go as planned.

The Ducks went 16-14 last season, finishing in the middle of the Pac-12 and losing their NCAA Tournament opener. That outcome didn't sit particularly well this offseason, for a program used to contending for conference titles and making deeper postseason runs.

"We knew we had to work harder," said sophomore Lindsey Vander Weide, an all-Pac-12 selection as a freshman last fall. "So we put in that time in the spring, came into practice ready to go, tried to get the freshmen up to date and now we're looking forward to this weekend to start it off."

Vander Weide headlines a cast of veterans that also includes libero Amanda Benson, her fellow senior Kacey Nady at middle blocker, junior hitter Taylor Agost and setter Maggie Scott. To that core, Moore added arguably the best recruiting class in the country, in hitters Willow Johnson and Jolie Rasmussen, middle Ronika Stone and libero Brooke Van Sickle.

The Ducks will lean heavily on those newcomers, based on their talent. But they know some tough lessons could loom early in the season, based on their youth. Leaders like Vander Weide and Scott are motivated by last season's frustrations to see that Oregon is able to weather the early learning curve while still putting together victories.

"I expect really big things from us this year as we do learn," Scott said. "Because they're learning quickly, which is really special. It's fun to be part of that."

Vander Weide and Scott will be key pieces in the 6-2 rotation Moore plans to employ from the outset this season. The system employs two setters – Scott along with August Raskie – so that the front row always features three hitters. The only player Moore doesn't plan to rotate out at any point is the multi-talented Vander Weide.

"I need to step up and be better than I was last year," said Vander Weide, who was second on the team in kills per set, digs and aces last season. "I think I'm ready."

Scott said Vander Weide is up to the challenge of an even bigger role with the Ducks.

"When the lights turn on, she's one of the best players I've seen," Scott said.

The lights go on for the entire UO volleyball team Friday night. The Ducks have national championship aspirations, which they can validate in their opener by getting some payback against the team that beat them the last time they reached those heights.

There's confidence the talented newcomers can mesh with the experienced veterans to get Oregon back to the title match. Reality, in whatever shape it takes, beckons Friday against Texas.

"You really don't know until you get up against somebody," Moore said. "And the way we're starting, when you open the season against the No. 2 team in the country, you better be ready.

"Now we've got to take care of business. It's a little easier said than done. But that's what we gotta do."