Volleyball life was different when Hawai'i senior Sarah Mason was a Duck. Oregon won one conference match in her two seasons at Eugene. The Ducks were seen as decoys in the powerful Pac 10 — a weekend off between top-10 opponents.

Mason is gone and so is the Ducks-as-Decoys act, coincidentally. Jim Moore came to coach a few months after Mason chose to finish her career at home. The change has been good for everyone involved as 12th-ranked Hawai'i (26-5) takes on Oregon (17-11) Friday in Long Beach, Calif., in the first round of the NCAA Championship.

The Ducks are mere ducklings, with eight new players this year who have learned they play best when they share. They blew by all 10 non-conference opponents — sweeping three Western Athletic Conference teams — and beat then-No. 8 Cal to get ranked for the first time in 15 years. A roster that includes nine underclassmen and five foreign players somehow stabilized the program, along with Moore, who, on Monday, became the first from Oregon to be named Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

"When we beat Washington State (Nov. 2) we were 17-4 and I told them, 'That's it, OK, we're in (the NCAA Tournament),' " Moore recalled. "It turned out to be true, but might have allowed them to relax."

The Ducks come into LBSU's Walter Pyramid on a seven-match skid. It started at 14-all in the fifth against fifth-ranked Washington on Nov. 3. A serve that seemed destined for an ace was transformed into a sideout by Courtney Thompson, Washington's All-America setter. The Huskies erased the upset threat on the next point and Oregon hasn't won since.

"Maybe it was my fault we ended up losing seven in a row," Moore said. "We lost focus of the team right in front of our face. That's what we need to get back to — just the play in front of us."

Since a traumatic trip to Arizona, where they were spanked with their only losses to unranked teams and let a 25-12 advantage get away, the Ducks have worked their way out of panic mode. But in the Pac-10, whose teams have won the last five national titles and lost just one first-round match in four years, it was not enough.

The last four losses have come against second-ranked Stanford, 15th-ranked Cal, fourth-ranked UCLA and sixth-ranked USC. If Hawai'i was hoping to intimidate with its 13-match winning streak and imposing WAC Tournament performance, it is running with the wrong subregional crowd.

"We are not going to see anybody that jumps a lot higher or hits a lot harder," Moore said. "That doesn't mean Hawai'i isn't better, but it's not that we haven't seen it before."

Oregon is at its best when it is most balanced, with players able to compensate for those struggling. Sonja Newcombe averages 3 1/2 kills a game to lead a team that gets at least two kills from every starting hitter. She was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team and an All-Pac-10 honorable mention.

Oregon setter Nevena Djordjevic and hitter Neticia Enesi earned honorable mention All-Freshman honors. Senior Kristen Bitter is a District VIII Academic All-American who is sixth in career blocks. Hitter Mira Djuric and libero Katie Swoboda received All-Freshman honors last season and Djuric leads the conference with a nasty jump serve that averages an ace every two games.

The Rainbow Wahine have more than a little to worry about, starting with their shaky passing. There is also reason for optimism.

Hawai'i is playing its most focused and forceful volleyball of a long, sometimes torturous season of injuries and inconsistency. It has not lost in six weeks and, unlike previous years, had serious conference competition in 19th-ranked New Mexico State to use as a springboard.

Both WAC teams are taking relatively short trips — NMSU is headed to Colorado — and figure to have strong subregional support. The conference can make a statement this week. So can the Pac-10, again.

"Obviously Oregon is having some issues where it can't close games," said UH coach Dave Shoji. "But it might be a different team going into the playoffs and not having to play Pac-10 competition. It depends on the makeup of the kids and coach. You could get very down on yourself and your team when you lose seven in a row, but if you've got tough kids who understand that games in the Pac-10 are difficult to win ... their coach believes they have a great chance to get out of this subregional."

Shoji has the same feeling about his team. He believes those 12 days on the road, with the struggles in Idaho overcome by the electric energy at last weekend's WAC Tournament in Nevada, drew his team together. If the 'Bows can get through this weekend, they can come home for their regional. Then anything is possible.

"Being on the road that long together ... you either really get along or you don't, there's no in between," Shoji said. "I think the team is closer than it's ever been. We have a great opportunity to come back home and play. We didn't get the best break in our bracket, but these are winnable games. We have to play really well, but I think we can."

NOTES

This is Oregon's first NCAA appearance in 17 years. ... Its only win, in five NCAA tries, came against Hawai'i in the first round in 1984 in Eugene. ... The 'Bows' only other first-round loss came in 1987, against Loyola Marymount, at Long Beach. ... The last time the Ducks were in the postseason, Jim Moore was in the first year of his coaching career. ... UH holds a 6-1 record against Oregon, winning the last meeting 15-6, 15-4, 15-2 in 2000. ... Moore guided Northern Michigan to the 1993 NCAA Division II title.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.