Who can think of a better way to prepare for the Pacific-10 Conference Championships than facing top competition in California?
The Oregon women’s tennis team closes out its non-conference schedule this weekend near Ojai, Calif., the site of the 2001 Pac-10 Championships.
Oregon (4-15) is hoping to gain momentum into the Pac-10 Tournament and raise its stock for individual NCAA qualifiers.
Among contenders for NCAA bids are junior Janice Nyland and sophomores Monika Geiczys and Jeanette Mattsson. The trio has switched off for Oregon at the No. 1 singles position this season and all have NCAA experience from last year’s team. Leading the Ducks in individual wins are freshmen Courtney Nagle (15-5) and Davinda Mendiburu (14-5).
That group, along with juniors Adeline Arnaud and Vickie Gunnarsson, will face a similar 6-15 UC-Irvine team at the UCI Tennis Stadium Saturday in Irvine, Calif. The Anteaters lost eight matches in a row during the season but have won their last two. No. 55 Jonni Seymour leads UCI with a 15-6 record.
On Sunday, the Ducks face No. 46 San Diego State at the Cox Arena Tennis Courts. The match is a return trip for Oregon, which played at the San Diego State Fall Classic in October. Duck players went 2-4 against the Aztecs earlier in the year.
San Diego State (13-7) has won nine of its last 11 matches, winning the doubles point each team victory.
Last season, Oregon defeated both San Diego State and UCI by scores of 6-3.

Men close out regular season
The Oregon men’s tennis team will have one last chance to upset its Northwest rival Washington, but it won’t be easy.
The 8-12 Ducks look to end their regular season on a high note with a 1 p.m. match at Washington.
Head coach Chris Russell and the Ducks have lost six straight matches but are still in the hunt for an NCAA berth. They will likely need an upset against No. 16 Washington.
On Feb. 25, the Huskies handed the Ducks a 6-1 loss at home. But the Huskies are a different team than they were two months ago. Washington has since lost three of four matches and plummeted in the rankings from No. 9.
Leading the Huskies are sophomores Matt Hanlin (No. 42) and Andrej Bizjak (No. 49), who will face Oregon’s Oded Teig and Martin Pawlowski.
The men also travel to Ojai, Calif., next week for the Pac-10 Championships.