Both the Oregon men’s and women’s varsity tennis teams will complete their fall season this weekend at various tournaments around the nation.
The men’s tennis team, guided by second-year head coach Nils Schyllander, will play in the University of Texas’ Fall Invitational all day Friday.
Oregon is entering all its players except sophomore Alex Cornelissen, playing all seven in singles and making three doubles teams. Schyllander has been pleased with the young team’s growth this fall.
“Even in practices it’s been like night and day since last year,” Schyllander said.
In Seattle on Oct. 15, sophomore Geoff Embry lost in the quarterfinals of the Wilson/ITA Regional tournament to Sacramento State’s Kiryl Harbatsiuk in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6. Fellow sophomore Marcos Verdasco followed Embry into the round of 16, but lost to Washington’s Andy Kuharszky, 3-6, 0-6.
“Geoff Embry really had a good showing in Seattle … this weekend will be really important to see if he can back that up,” said Schyllander.
The same weekend, part of the men’s team traveled to Jacksonville, Fla., to the North Florida Invitational. Mike Myrhed, Stephen Weichert and Doug Mayeda all competed for the Ducks.
Mayeda bounced back from a first-round loss to win the consolation bracket by winning two matches on the final day against opponents from Troy and North Florida.
Myrhed lost in three sets to Karol Szmurlo of Florida Atlantic in the consolation semifinals, the same round where Weichert lost to Troy’s Bastian Maucher in straight sets.
Associate director of tennis and women’s head coach Paul Reber’s team will travel to Durham, N.C. for the Duke Invitational that runs Friday through Sunday.
The women are entering Siobhan Cavan, Celine Rolly, Tina Snodgrass, Anna Powaska and Carmen Seremeta in the four-team field. Besides Duke, Wake Forest and Princeton will compete.
All the players will play singles and then team up for three doubles teams at the tournament.
“For the kids that have been able to play with their health, things have been going really well,” Reber said.
The women also played in its own ITA regionals the next weekend in Stanford, Calif. The duo of freshman Celine Rolly and senior Anna Powaska went 2-1 in both singles and doubles play in the main tournament bracket.
Previously, Oregon traveled to Boise, Idaho for the Jack Taylor Tennis Invitational. In singles action, he team went 4-8 while finishing 2-5 in doubles play. In singles, Rolly went 2-1, while Cavan and Powaska went 1-2 overall.
Reber has seen the most strides from the pair this fall.
“(Powaska) came back in really good shape and is playing a lot better, she’s just one or two wins from getting some confidence back,” Reber said.
The team’s play has been hampered by injuries, however.
“Overall, I wish we were healthier, but we got out of it what we could get out of it in the situation we’ve been in,” said Reber.
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