Close matches used to be the keys to success for the Oregon women’s tennis team. In three NCAA qualifying seasons from 1998 to 2000, the Ducks won eight matches decided by one point while losing only four.
In this season alone, Oregon has lost six one-point matches, including two this weekend on the road. The Ducks nearly pulled off two major upsets, but fell just short, losing 4-3 against Tulsa and Texas Christian.
Two freshmen kept the out-matched Ducks in the running against two top-35 teams. Davina Mendiburu and Courtney Nagle went 4-0 on the weekend to add to their team-leading wins total.
“We had two very good wins from our freshmen,” Oregon head coach Jack Griffin said. “We had great performances from our freshmen again [on Saturday].”
Against No. 34 Tulsa on Friday, Mendiburu and Nagle evened the score for Oregon after the Golden Hurricane captured the ever-important doubles point. Mendiburu swept Tulsa’s Jana Sedivec, 6-3, 6-4, while Nagle put Marjolein van Drongen away in overtime, 7-5.
Junior Janice Nyland, playing at the No. 1 position for the sixth time this season, upset the Hurricanes’ Blanca Posada, 6-2, 6-2 for Oregon’s third point.
But Oregon would win no more as Tulsa added three singles wins of their own to go with the doubles point.
On Saturday, the Ducks faced a similar fate 300 miles to the south in Fort Worth, Texas.
Junior Adeline Arnaud and sophomore Jeanette Mattsson got Oregon off to a good start with an 8-2 doubles win over Texas Christian’s Rosa Perez and Saber Pierce. Mendiburu and Nyland clinched the doubles point with a hard-fought 8-6 win over the Horned Frogs’ Paty Aburto and Leoni Weirich.
Oregon then squandered its one point lead, dropping four straight matches to give TCU the win. Only Mendiburu and Nagle managed wins in singles play.
“We fought hard but have been coming up short in the 4-3 matches,” Griffin said. “We’re just one player short this year, it seems like. We just need to continue to compete and get better.”
The Ducks fell to 4-15 on the year while the Horned Frogs won their 13th straight match. Oregon has only two more matches remaining before the Pacific-10 Championships in Ojai, Calif., on April 26-29.

Men routed by L.A. schools
Sophomore Jason Menke was the only Oregon men’s tennis player to come away from Los Angeles with a win this weekend.
No. 21 Southern California proved to be too much for the 8-12 Ducks, as the Trojans prevailed 6-1. Menke swept USC’s Garrett Wong, 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 6 singles position.
The doubles team of senior David Becker and freshman Buck Mink took the Trojans’ Nick Rainey and Damien Spizzo into overtime but fell, 9-8.
Freshman Greg Dubourdieu also played in an overtime match, but lost to Parker Collins, 7-6, 4-6, 1-0(3).
“Greg has done a good job recently and has been competitive in every match,” Oregon men’s coach Chris Russell said. “It’s also great to see Jason get a straight set win at No. 6.”
Against top-ranked UCLA on Saturday, the Ducks couldn’t come as close. The Bruins swept every match en route to a 7-0 win.
“We got a slow start in doubles,” Russell said. “And in singles, we played well in the first sets, but kind of fell off after that.”
Becker and Mink lost a close 8-6 match to the No. 24 doubles team of Travis Rettenmair and Marcin Matkowski.