No. 24 Ducks Rebuffed in NCAA Volleyball Tourney Announcement

(Eugene, Oregon) - After making four straight NCAA trips for the first time in school history, the No. 24 University of Oregon volleyball team (19-11, 7-11) fell just short of a fifth invitation in the 64-team tournament field announcement Sunday.

The tourney field was composed of single automatic qualifiers from each of the 31 nation’s conferences and 33 at-large teams.

“It’s terribly disappointing for our players, and I truly thought we deserved an opportunity to play in the tournament again,” sixth-year Oregon head coach Jim Moore said. “I feel especially sad for someone like Heather Meyers who is a senior and played her heart out all season long, and her career for that matter. She doesn’t deserve to go out on this type of note. Looking back, we achieved more than what most people thought with how young we were, and against a conference as deep as the Pac-10. Unfortunately we weren’t selected, but we’re going to have to move on. I expect our players will have extra motivation to come back next year and again give it their all.”

Ranked between 11th and 24th all season long in the AVCA Coaches Poll, Oregon was the only team ranked top 25 this week that did not make the field, while 11 of the other 14 teams outside the top 25 that received votes were issued invites.

Since the debut of the 64-team tourney format in 1998, UO became the first Pac-10 program not to receive an NCAA bid that posted at least 17 wins, while only twice before had teams with 16 wins not qualified (Arizona, 16-14, 2008; Oregon State, 16-16, 2003).

Conference-wise, the Big Ten sported the most team qualifiers (8) and tied its league record. The Pac-10 was tied for second-most with the SEC with six, and the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 both sported five teams in the field.

For comparison's sake in this week’s national rankings, the Pac-10 boasted seven teams in the top 25, compared with four from the Big Ten, and three each from the Big 12 and SEC.

Overall, the top four of the 16 seeds announced went to Florida (1), Nebraska (2), Stanford (3), and three-time defending champion Penn State (4).

Based on past qualifying history for Pac-10 teams, the Ducks appeared to solidify their qualifying chances this weekend after a 3-0 sweep at Washington State and 3-0 loss at No. 13 Washington. However, the NCAA RPI system dropped the Ducks eight spots in the national standings to 55th (while every team ranked through Kentucky at 46th received either automatic or at-large bids).

In months prior, UO beat three teams in the NCAA tourney field – then-No. 7 Washington, American and Portland State. In contrast, all 11 of Oregon’s losses were to NCAA qualifiers, including nine to teams ranked top-15 at that point and another that stood top-25.

Comparing the schedules of other at-large advancers, head coach Jim Moore couldn’t be accused of a creating a soft, 30-match schedule, especially for a roster composed of five freshmen, six sophomores, and one senior (while its lone junior missed the last 2/3 of the season with a broken metatarsal bone).

Glancing at the Ducks’ 2010 slate, 16 of the team’s 18 conference matches were against returning NCAA qualifiers, and the ‘Conference of Champions’ sported six teams ranked top 15 nearly all season.

In its school-record 14-0 non-conference start, UO beat two other teams that received votes in the preseason polls – Florida International and Santa Clara – on the road, and FIU and Tulane were NCAA tourney qualifiers in ’09. Santa Clara has earned NCAA tourney bids 11 of the 12 prior years, and American and Siena had combined for 11 NCAA trips (7/4) the eight prior seasons.

Unfortunately, those aforementioned teams’ RPI’s unexpectedly sunk this season (FIU 93rd; Tulane 139th; Santa Clara 151st; Siena 273rd) and hurt Oregon’s RPI. Oregon’s other non-conference opponents’ RPI’s follow: Portland State (110), Fresno State (150), Portland (165), Sam Houston State (194), Seattle (212) and UC Riverside (260).

The Pac-10 also appeared to suffer from a West Coast RPI bias itself, as only three teams ranked top 25 in the index – Stanford (2), USC (8) and California (10) – followed by UCLA (27), Arizona (36) and Washington (37).

Comparing overall records, UO’s 19 wins were two better than at-large advancer Kentucky (17); three other at-large selections – Mississippi, Northwestern and Virginia Tech – also sported 19 overall wins; and the remaining 29 at-large teams all posted 20 wins or more.

Oregon’s 19-victory tally in ’10 was its fourth straight of 19 or more after posting 20 (’09), 25 (’08) and 22 (’07), and only one other Duck head coach has achieved the feat - Karla Rice (1973, 24; 1974 24; 1975, 19; 1976, 26; 1977, 24).

Last year, UO was seeded 14th in the 64-team field - its third straight top-16 nod – and sports a 5-4 NCAA tourney record under Moore thanks to NCAA Third Round ‘Sweet 16’ trips in 2007 and ’08. For comparison’s sake, Oregon was 1-4 all-time in its four prior NCAA tourney trips in 1984, ’86, ’87 and ’89.

Looking ahead to this weekend, the first and second rounds follow will be held Thursday-Saturday, December 2-4 at 16 sites around the nation.

The following week, four-team NCAA Regional third and fourth rounds will be hosted on Thursday-Saturday, November 9-11 in Austin, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; Seattle, Wash; and State College, Pa. The NCAA semifinals and final follow on Thursday and Saturday, December 16 and 18 in Kansas City, Mo.

The Pac-10 looks to defend its status as the nation’s premier volleyball league that goes back to the first NCAA Championship in 1981 when USC beat UCLA for the national title – one of five times that the Pac-10 has swept the top two places nationally.

Altogether, four league teams have combined for 13 of the 29 national championships held in that stretch - Stanford (6 - 1992, '94, '96, '97, 2001, '04), UCLA (3 - 1984, '90, '91), USC (3 - 1981, '2002, '03) and Washington (1 - 2005), and the Pac-10 has also claimed 13 runner-up nods.

In the national semifinals, the Pac-10 has had at least one team every year except twice, including 12 tourneys with two teams and thee years with three of the four teams.

The Conference’s depth is further proven by the fact in the 13, 64-team tourneys since 1998, the Pac-10 has advanced at least six teams on 11 occasions, and a league-best eight qualified twice in 2002 and ’09.