With another win against Portland (3-4) on Tuesday, the Oregon men’s tennis team extended its season-opening winning streak to improve to 5-0.
“This was another important revenge win for us,” Oregon coach Kevin Kowalik said. “The last time we played the Pilots last season, we lost 3-4. So it was great to go out and avenge that like we did with Santa Clara. We want to be beating all those teams that we narrowly lost to last year.”
Oregon downed the Pilots 5-2, sweeping the doubles category and winning at the top four singles positions.
Senior leadoff man Thomas Bieri rebounded from last weekend’s singles defeat against Nevada with a nail-biter against Portland’s Matthew Loucks.
Bieri had a rough start against Loucks, losing the first set 4-6. But he fought his way back, claiming the second set 6-4 and taking the final set, 6-2.
“Thomas did a really good job. He didn’t play necessarily that well, but he hung in there and really fought through it,” Kowalik said. “That guy he played isn’t ranked, but he’s a very good player, and that was a great win for Thomas.”
The Ducks’ No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams also continued their undefeated reign. The senior duo of Markus Schiller and Arron Spencer ran all over Portland’s Loucks and Jamie Redpath, winning 8-2.
“This was the first match that I felt like we really dominated the whole time,” Spencer said. “And I feel like we should be able to do that a lot. Markus and I had never played together before this year, so we’re still trying to figure out each other’s games, but so far it’s going well.”
Spencer is undefeated in dual matches (5-0) this season, a stark contrast to his overall 9-9 dual record from last year.
“I’m winning matches more with my mind this year. And that’s something I’ve never done before,” Spencer said. “I’m not out there battling every single match and going three sets. I haven’t really felt like I was going to lose a match yet.”
The Eugene native says that his layoff from tennis after shoulder surgery last year was the spark that introduced him to the mental side of the game.
“After I had my surgery, I had to just sit around and watch a lot of tennis. When I came back, I wasn’t able to use any strength, so I had to kind of dink the ball around a lot,” Spencer said. “So I started figuring out strategies and angles, and started thinking more. And I began to realize that it was a lot easier than I’d made it out to be before.”
This weekend, the Ducks venture into the deep South to play No. 33 Lousiana-Lafayette. This will be Oregon’s first test against a ranked opponent this season.
The Ragin’ Cajuns are currently 3-1, and are coming off a tough 1-6 loss to Mississippi during the weekend.
“The confidence we have right now from being 5-0 will definitely help us out going into this weekend,” Kowalik said.
Kowalik has held practice outdoors this week to allow the Ducks to acclimate to the weather conditions and the slightly slower pace of the outdoor game that they will be facing against Lafayette this weekend.
“I think the whole team is in really good physical shape,” Schiller said. “I personally don’t think I’ve felt any better. This is going to be a tough team to beat, but I’m feeling pretty confident going into it.”
The Oregon women’s tennis team also resumes play this weekend with a pair of matches against the Washington schools. The Ducks (3-0) play Washington (1-2) on Friday and then face the Cougars (1-2) on Saturday.
“Washington and Washington State are our biggest rivals, and we’re getting fired up to go out and get some wins on the road,” Oregon women’s coach Nils Schyllander said. “Our doubles game has been our main area of focus since we lost the doubles point to Boise State (two weekends ago). We played very well in singles, but I feel like we’ll be a leg up on everyone else if we can just go out there and grab the doubles point too.”