Three days, 1,000 players, nine teams and four postseason bids on the line. It doesn’t get much better than this for tennis.
The Oregon men’s and women’s tennis teams take on the rest of the Pacific-10 Conference today through Saturday in the heartland of tennis, Ojai, Calif., with the NCAA Tournament in mind.
Four men and three women represent the Ducks in the singles bracket. The rest of the team will participate in the non-qualifying invitational section. Two doubles teams for both the men and women will also compete for two slots at the NCAA Tournament.
Sophomore Oded Teig leads the men into action. The Holon, Israel, native played the No. 1 singles position for the Ducks all season and leads the team with a 20-15 record. Teig faces California’s Balasz Veress in the first round.
Teig is finishing the season strong, with two major upsets this month against ranked opponents.
Freshmen Buck Mink and Martin Pawlowski, along with senior David Becker, will also compete in the championship bracket. The top four finishers automatically qualify for the NCAAs, May 19-20 in Atlanta.
Doubles teams of Becker and Mink and Teig and Pawlowski will compete in the championship doubles bracket. Becker and Mink (0-4) face Arizona State’s Pim van Melee and Olivier Charrion in the first round. Teig and Pawlowski (1-1) meet Arizona State’s Nic Dubey and Matt Klinger in the first round.
The Oregon women warmed up for a strong tourney with a regular-season ending match against UCLA Wednesday. The No. 30 Bruins routed the Ducks 6-1, but Oregon had some bright moments.
Junior transfer Vickie Gunnarsson defeated UCLA’s Jennifer Donahue in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1 in singles for Oregon’s lone points. The doubles team of Adeline Arnaud and Jeanette Mattsson teamed for an 8-5 win over Donahue and Chelsea Godbey.
The Ducks ended the season 5-16 and 0-8 in the conference for ninth place.
Freshman sensation Davina Mendiburu is the top Duck in the singles bracket. The Menton, France, native has a 16-6 season record and faces Washington State’s Erica Perkins in the first round.
Junior Janice Nyland finished the season at the No. 1 singles position and is also in the hunt for an NCAA bid. The Davis, Calif., native faces Laresa Marino of Arizona in the first round.
Sophomore Monika Geiczys will face UCLA’s Petya Marinova to round out the Oregon singles contingent.
In doubles play, the No. 49-ranked duo of Geiczys and freshman Courtney Nagle is the Ducks’ top team. The 10-16 team faces the Washington team of Claire Carter and Ilona Kordonskaya in the first round. Nagle leads the team in singles wins but was held out of that bracket to focus on doubles play.
Mendiburu and Nyland represent Oregon’s other doubles team. The 9-13 team faces UCLA’s Mariko Fritz-Krockow and Sara Walker.
Singles play takes place today through Saturday, while doubles play begins Friday. The invitational section also begins Friday.
The blockbuster meet runs in conjunction with the Big West Championships, the California High School Championships, the Division III Regionals and a prestigious amateur invitational.