It was a great opening night for the UO volleyball team.  The unranked Ducks opened up on the road in front of a full house in State College, PA, to take on the #1 ranked and four-time defending national champion Penn State Nittany Lions, and came away a winner in four sets 16-25, 25-21, 25-20, and 25-22.  The win on the road will likely vault Oregon into the rankings, and a number of ATQers got into the Big Ten Network broadcast of the match.  It will be exciting when the Pac-12 Network ensure that all volleyball matches will be broadcast next season.  The Ducks play Minnesota tomorrow, a 3:00 PT broadcast on the Big Ten Network.  UPDATE:  According to @bylawblog, Penn State had a 94 match home winning streak going into this one.  Its really an amazing win on many levels.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as successful a night for the Mens Basketball team.  The Ducks dropped a game to Italian squad Scafati, in a game where the defense was obviously very poor.  Jabari Brown led the Ducks with 22 point, but offense clearly wasn't the problem.  The Ducks take the court again Tuesday against Varese.

Fall isn't just for football, it also means volleyball season.  Though a poor program for most of its history, the UO volleyball program has soared to unprecedented heights under coach Jim Moore, having a string of four straight NCAA tournament appearances broken last season.  The team begins the climb back to the NCAA Tournament on Friday by facing preseason #1, and four time defending national champion Penn State.  Coach Jim Moore was kind enough to answer some questions for us about the upcoming season:

ATQ:  The first thing that stands out when you look at this team is that it is very young, not having a single senior on the roster.  While you don't lose many players either, the loss of Heather Meyers, one of the best players in the history of the program, really stands out.  Can you compete for an NCAA Tournament berth in the Pac-12 with such a young squad?

Coach Moore:  We can't replace Heather - she is one of the best players in this program's history. Yet, even without Heather, we'll have more experience this year team-wise. We had a freshman setter last year (Lauren Plum), and she's a year more mature and not a freshman anymore. We added another setter (Shellsy Ashen) that is very solid and will push her, too. We have to compete for a NCAA tournament berth, and that's certainly attainable, and we will do everything we can do make that happen.

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Oregon has the current fortune of being blessed with incredible coaches, i.e Chip Kelly, George Horton, Paul Westhead.  Volleyball head coach Jim Moore is no exception.  Among the greats in the country as both a coach and a recruiter, Coach Moore has built the Ducks into a perennial tournament program.  Last season featured a sweep of the Bay Area schools, a defeat of the #4 Fuskies in Seattle (that denied them the Pac-10 title, no less), and a second round NCAA appearance.  The 2010 season looks to be a challenge, as the Ducks must replace the production of a number of graduating seniors.  Details after the jump...

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Happy USC Week everybody, but we're not here to talk about that.  There are matters of nearly equal importance this weekend, mostly because the Beavers are involved.  A recap of last week's volleyball action and an OSU preview after the jump.  Plus, TINY SPANDEX SHORTS!!!  TINY SPANDEX SHORTS!!! PICS IF YOU READ THE POST, I PROMISE!!!

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