Weather conditions hampered the Ducks at the Freeman Memorial Women’s Tennis Championships in Las Vegas over the weekend, as the Oregon women’s tennis team fought off all remnants of the rust that had accumulated after a month of inactivity.
Amidst 30-degree temperatures and a looming winter storm, the 42nd-ranked Ducks went 1-5 in both singles and doubles matches over the weekend.
Senior Monica Hoz de Vila notched Oregon’s only singles win when she beat Arizona State’s Jessica Leitch 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Flight Two singles category.
The Ducks’ lone doubles win came from sophomore pair Carmen Seremeta and Claudia Hirt on Saturday.
Seremeta and Hirt narrowly overcame Georgia Tech’s Alison Silverio and Tarryn Rudman 9-8.
“We played okay against Georgia Tech, but we could have won our first match,” Seremeta said, referring to the 8-4 defeat that she and Hirt suffered to Notre Dame’s senior twin tandem of Catrina Thompson and Christian Thompson the day before.
“I think a lot of it was just the fact that we didn’t go in (to the tournament) with too much practice,” Seremeta said. “I didn’t play my best.”
The Ducks played in Las Vegas on just three days of practice after a five-week winter break hiatus.
“We just need to practice more,” senior Dominika Dieskova said. “We all played okay, but nothing great. Those teams that we played are some of the best teams around. We need to get more confidence from practice and to feel more comfortable on the courts.”
Dieskova and Ceci Olivos, the third-seeded doubles team going into the tournament, were upset 8-2 by UNLV’s unranked Elena Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva in the first round of Flight One on Friday.
“I expected a little more in that match,” Oregon coach Paul Reber said. “But the conditions were bad, it was breezy, and (UNLV) handled the conditions better than we did.
“We had opportunities early and just couldn’t capitalize on those.”
Despite Oregon’s rough weekend, Dieskova thinks the tournament was important to help the team get back into match rhythm in preparation for the season opener this Saturday.
“Even though we lost a few matches, it’s way better that we went to Las Vegas and played actual matches instead of staying in Eugene and just practicing,” Dieskova said. “Because match experience gives you way more than practice would.
“It definitely motivates us to work harder and get our things together. It’s like a wake up call – like hey, we’re starting now and we definitely have to do better.”
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