Members of the Oregon women’s tennis team will once again have their work cut out for them this season. The Pac-12 is, after all, one of the stronger conferences in the country.
The Ducks finished last year with a 13-10 overall record, but struggled in conference play finishing 1-9. Stanford won the NCAA women’s national championship last season, although it was UCLA that finished the season first place in the Pac-12.
Junior Nicole Long, who transferred from the University of Oklahoma, finished 22-11 last season and holds the No. 1 singles spot on the team. Last season, Long tacked on 17-straight wins for the Ducks, which marked the squad’s longest streak of the season.
Entering this season as an upperclassman and her second year with Oregon, Long could lead the Ducks again.
In doubles, Long partnered with Patricia Skowronski. The duo went 16-10 overall last season and came up with big wins in doubles against highly ranked Stanford and UCLA. The Ducks will be without Skowronski this season due to graduation as she finished her career winning 58 singles matches and 45 doubles matches.
Oregon’s three seniors on the roster include Lana Buttner, Lena Macomson and Rabea Stueckemann. The team also picked up junior transfer Jasmine Minor from Georgia Tech. Minor completed her sophomore season with a 7-19 record in singles play and 7-18 in doubles.
Rounding out the roster are four freshmen. Two of the four rookies are twins Allie and Kadie Hueffner. The pair hail from Portland and both graduated from Lincoln High School. The sisters won back-to-back Oregon Schools Activities Association state championships in doubles play during their junior and senior years of high school.
In recent news, the team added a new addition to the team when signing Maja Salibasic, who will join the Ducks for the 2014 season.
“I had the opportunity to see Maja play and was impressed with her ability and potential,” head coach Paul Reber told GoDucks.com. “I think she is going to be able to come in January and help the team a great deal.”
Once again, the strong teams in the Pac-12 will create tough competition for Oregon this season. In the ITA team rankings released at the beginning of the year four Pac-12 teams were named in the top 10, with Stanford holding the top spot. UCLA was fifth, followed right behind by USC and California filled in at No. 8.
Starting on Jan. 18, the team will travel to Bloomington, Ind., for the University of Indiana Invitational.
The Ducks will kick off play in Eugene on Friday, Jan. 24 when they face South Carolina Upstate at 4 p.m. Oregon will then face Eastern Washington on that following Sunday. All women’s tennis home matches are held at the Student Tennis Center located on campus.
Follow Beth Maiman on Twitter @bethamaiman
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