Both the Oregon men’s and women’s tennis teams were amidst big streaks. One team wanted the streak to continue; the other did not.
The Duck men were disappointed to see their five-match win streak disappear Monday. Oregon matched up well with No. 52-ranked New Mexico State, but in the end, the Aggies had too much to offer.
The Ducks lost the decisive doubles point despite senior Joaquin Hamdan and junior David Becker’s 8-4 win over Alvaro Dominquez and Felix Hutt.
New Mexico State and the Ducks would then exchange blows in singles play, each team taking three matches. Hamdan, sophomore Thomas Schneiter and freshman Leslie Eisinga all picked up singles wins.
The Aggies’ No. 70 Marc Legris ended senior Guillermo Carter’s five match win streak with a three-set 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win.
“They out fought us a little bit,” Oregon head coach Chris Russell said, “Those are the kind of matches we need to win if we expect to get into the [NCAA] tournament.”
The Ducks, ranked No. 71 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls, fell to 8-5 on the season.
Oregon hopes to start a new win streak when it returns home this Friday to play Montana at the Eugene Swim and Tennis Club. The match begins at 4:30 p.m.
A streak ended for the Duck women too. But this time, they were glad.
On Sunday, Oregon waved goodbye to their five-match losing streak with a 6-3 win over San Diego State. The top four singles players stepped it up for No. 43 Oregon, as senior Alina Wygonowska, freshman Monika Gieczys and sophomores Adeline Arnaud and Janice Nyland all won in straight sets.
“The Ducks finally turned it around,” said Oregon head coach Jack Griffin in a released statement. “This was the strongest team we faced on this road trip and we showed a lot of character. It was an awesome effort today. It puts us back in the hunt for the NCAA tournament.”
The Ducks were also solid in the doubles portion. Wygonowska and freshman Jeanette Mattson pulled out a 9-8 (5) tiebreaker win over San Diego State’s Lisa Papi and Katja Karrento. Gieczys and Nyland disposed of Whitney Wells and Laura Aguero, 8-4.
The Ducks improved to 6-10 overall.
Oregon will get a chance to enact revenge on the team that started their four-game slide — Washington State — on Friday, in Pullman, Wash. It will also conclude the Pacific-10 conference schedule for the Ducks, who are 1-5 in conference play.