Dominika Dieskova closed out a victory against Boise State for the Oregon women’s tennis team on Sunday morning when she won her singles match against Megan Biorkman 6-3,
7-5 to lift the Ducks to a narrow 4-3 win over the Broncos.
The Ducks’ victory against the Broncos was their third dual-meet win of the weekend. Oregon (3-0) swept Portland 7-0 on Friday afternoon, and later brushed Santa Clara aside with an easy 6-1 win that day.
The Ducks won the match against the Broncos thanks to the depth of the Oregon roster. Three of Oregon’s four points came from the bottom of the depth chart with Carmen Seremeta, Claudia Hirt and Anna Leksinska clinching key wins from the numbers four, five and six singles positions.
“It was definitely our depth that won this match,” Oregon women’s coach Nils Schyllander said. “We won at the four, five and six singles positions. Last year a lot of the time we’d win matches at one, two and three. This was how we wanted to replace (former Duck Daria) Panova and I felt like we did it.”
Seremeta was the first Duck off the court with a win, notching a speedy 6-1, 6-3 victory over Alanah Carroll. However, her teammates had to fight harder for their wins.
Senior captain Anna Leksinska had to dig deep to pull out a 6-2, 6-4 win over a determined Jana Mackova. Leksinska injured her left foot toward the end of the first set.
“I stepped funny and injured the ball of my foot,” Leksinska said. “But instead of quitting, I sucked it up. The trainer wrapped my foot, I took some ibuprofen, and made it through.”
Leksinska benefited from the 30-odd fans who had gathered to cheer on the team.
“The energy in the building was amazing. I felt it even from the court farthest away from me,” she said. “It helped when I was down a couple of games, and I was getting mad at the injury. It helped me forget about the foot.”
Hirt also fed off the crowd to fend off Boise State’s Tiffany Coll. Hirt was down 1-4 early in the first set and looked to be trouble. But with the crowd behind her, she rallied to take the first set 7-6 (7-1) and went on to dominate Coll in the second and final set 6-1.
“I had trouble with her playing style at first. I didn’t know what to do,” Hirt said. “But then Nils pumped me up and I just played my game. I played so aggressively that I scared her. And after the tiebreak, she broke down.”
The Broncos were gracious in defeat.
“We knew we’d have to come out and try to take it away from them,” Broncos coach Mark Tichenor said. “This is a really good program, and Nils is the best young coach in college tennis today.”
The men’s tennis team also opened its season with a couple of wins this weekend. The Ducks logged a decisive 6-1 victory over Idaho and then proceeded to avenge last season’s loss against Santa Clara, beating the Broncos 5-2.
Senior Markus Schiller defeated Idaho’s Timothy Huynh 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour and the rest of the team followed his lead.
Against the Broncos, seniors Schiller, Thomas Bieri, Arron Spencer and freshman Mike Myrhed, clinched four points for the Ducks in four close singles matches. In doubles, scored with pro sets, Myrhed and fellow freshman Gustavo Loza beat Brian Brogan and A.J. Kerin 8-4. Schiller and Spencer secured another doubles win from the number one position, defeating Bobby Rasmussen and Jan Macek 8-4.
“This was a great win for us,” Oregon men’s coach Kevin Kowalik said. “We wanted to get some revenge after they beat us 5-2 last season. And starting our season 2-0 is a good way to open the year.”
Oregon sweeps five weekend matches
Daily Emerald
January 29, 2006
Oregon’s Anna Leksinska won her singles match 6-2, 6-4 over Boise State’s Jana Mackova Sunday. The Ducks defeated the Broncos 4-3.
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