They survived two teammates leaving the team. They made it through a mid-season slump. They are young but they have experience. Tomorrow, the up-and-down women’s tennis season comes down to one match.
Oregon (8-14 overall) earned the last NCAA wild-card bid, making it the second-straight year the team has reached postseason. The No. 51 Ducks take on No. 36 Mississippi State tomorrow in the first round in Tempe, Ariz., where they’ll have to deal with 90-degree conditions.
“We’re very excited to go there and play,” head coach Jack Griffin said. “We’re happy that we’re creating a tradition of making the tournament every year.”
After earning one of the biggest victories in school history against Arizona, sophomore Sarah Colistro and freshman Amy Juppenlatz left. The Ducks lost nine of their next ten games, falling behind in the ever-tough Pacific-10 conference.
But the NCAA was impressed enough by Oregon’s schedule to give it a tournament berth.
“We went through some adversity and lost a couple players and still managed to squeak in,” Griffin said. “We’ll take advantage of it.”
Mississippi had a similar season to Oregon. After winning six of their first seven non-conference matches, the Bulldogs hit the Southeastern Conference schedule and lost seven of their last eight matches.
Mississippi State “is a very tough team, real match-competitive,” Griffin said. “It’s really going to come down to who wants it more.”
With eight players all getting significant playing time, the Bulldogs (10-11) have a deep lineup. This should give Oregon trouble in doubles play, which has been a problem for the Ducks all season. The only ranked Bulldog is No. 93 junior Amelie Detriviere, who leads a workhorse team with a 30-11 record. Linda Mattsson also has an impressive record at 21-6.
The Ducks will need output from their top two players, No. 76 senior Alina Wygonowska and No. 72 freshman Monika Geiczys. Wygonowska was recently named to the Pac-10 honorable mention team.
Should the Ducks defeat Mississippi State, they will face the winner of the Arizona State-Army match on Sunday. Oregon lost to Pac-10 rival Arizona State earlier this season, 7-2, and they have never faced Army.
The Oregon men have a much tougher task ahead of them. The Ducks also barely qualified for the NCAAs on a wild card bid. They travel to Fresno, Calif. tomorrow for first-round action.
Oregon received a tough draw in No. 14 Fresno State. The Bulldogs were the Western Athletic Conference Champions with a 24-3 record. No. 32 Peter Luczak leads the Fresno State attack, followed by No. 43 Olivier LeJeune and No. 87 Rob Cheyne. The No. 21 doubles team of Andy Scoteanu and Cheyne will provide a challenge for Oregon’s No. 24 Guillermo Carter and Leslie Eisinga.
Fresno State “is a very solid team,” head coach Chris Russell said. “They’ve played consistently and hard all season. But it’s not like we haven’t seen this level of play before.”
If Oregon advances past Fresno State, it plays the winner of the Southern California-Pacific match.