The women’s tennis team looked to extend its three-game winning streak this weekend in home meets against St. Mary’s and Pacific.
Unfortunately, its weekend didn’t start off as planned.
On Friday the No. 58 Ducks (4-2) played host to No. 59 St. Mary’s (4-0) and were swept in the meet-opening doubles matches, which seemed to affect the team’s play for the remainder of the day.
“We were disappointed with our energy in doubles play against St. Mary’s,” Oregon women’s coach Paul Reber said. “Losing all three doubles matches put us behind the eight-ball. We came out flat and, as a coach, I put that on me.”
In singles play, freshman Stephanie Macfarlane and senior Anna Powaska lost their first matches of the season, and the Ducks lost the meet 4-3.
The bright spot of the meet was the play of freshman Celine Rolly, who holds down the No. 1 singles spot for Oregon. Rolly defeated senior Jessica Hoath of St. Mary’s (6-1, 6-1).
After the disappointing loss to St. Mary’s, Reber held a practice on Saturday to refocus his young team – four of the top six singles players are freshman – on the tennis basics.
“The freshmen have responded really well to the changes of the college game,” Reber said. “Now it’s just sharpening their game up. They need to get ‘match tough,’ and that will come with practice and by gaining experience through matches.”
With a stronger focus on doubles play, the Ducks started the meet against Pacific (1-3) with a bang, sweeping the three doubles matches.
“I think teams come in to a meet thinking, ‘maybe if we can win the double point, we’ll have a chance to win (the meet).’” Reber explained. “Sweeping the doubles really takes the wind out of a team’s sails.”
Macfarlane rebounded nicely from her first loss of the season and continued to add momentum to the Ducks effort by winning the first singles match of the day (6-1, 6-2).
“After the match I lost against St. Mary’s I talked to the coaches and they helped my confidence,” said Macfarlane. “I started out really nervous, but I worked on a few basic things throughout the match to get back on track. I focused on individual points rather than the overall score.”
Rolly faced Pacific’s Jolanta Twarowska, who was recently named Big West Conference Player of the Week, and won 7-5, 6-3. The win moves Rolly’s record in the No. 1 singles spot to 4-2 on the season.
Powaska’s singles match against Pacific’s Svenja Arens proved to be the match of the day. After splitting the first two sets, the match went into a 10-point playoff, which Powaska won with her pinpoint placement of the ball, giving the Ducks the meet win, 5-2.
“Powaska is playing fantastic tennis,” Reber said. “She has been building her confidence and worked her rear end off to get into the number two spot. Right now, she’s the highlight of the team.”
Next up for the Ducks is a home meet against Big Ten foe Purdue on Feb. 17 at noon.
“We are excited for the challenge of facing Big Ten teams,” Rolly said. “That’s why I’m (at Oregon): To get the tough matches.”
Added Macfarlane: “We’re just hoping for the best.”
Men top Hawaii, lose to Fresno State
The Oregon men’s tennis team (4-3) picked up its first road victory of the season Saturday against Hawaii, but finished the road trip with a blowout loss to Fresno State.
The Ducks opened the weekend’s action by winning the doubles point against a tough Hawaii team, giving them momentum heading into singles play.
“I thought our doubles play was very positive against Hawaii,” said coach Nils Schyllander said. “It’s the best doubles we’ve played since I’ve been here. The fight and grit we showed was excellent. This is a very, very young team and it was encouraging to see them focus and play well.”
In singles play, the Ducks’ top three – Marcos Verdasco, Francisco Gallardo and Geoff Embry – lost, forcing singles players four through six to get wins in order for Oregon to pull out the victory. No. 4 Romeo Mortera and No. 6 Mikael Myrhed came through in three sets each, giving the Ducks a 4-3 win and their first road victory of the season.
“We’re a deep team, but the top of their lineup is one of the best top three’s in the nation,” Schyllander said. “Our doubles played well, but our depth proved to be the key. That’s how we won the match.”
On Sunday, the Ducks turned its focus to No. 74 Fresno State.
The number two doubles team, featuring Alexander Cornelissen and Myrhed, picked up the sole victory in the meet for the Ducks with an 8-4 win.
Fresno State swept singles play and was able to get the doubles point by winning the number one and three doubles matches in order to get the 7-0 victory.
“We didn’t convert on our break points,” said Schyllander. “We’re getting a little nervous in break point and waiting for it to come to us. We need to be a little more assertive in our break points in some of our matches.”
Oregon will look to rebound from its tough loss to the Bulldogs this weekend in Albuquerque, N.M., where it will play Northern Arizona and New Mexico on Feb. 15 and 16, respectively.