Oregon women’s tennis fell to No. 11 Georgia Tech, Duck head coach Alison Silverio’s former school, on Sunday afternoon, 6-1, at the Student Tennis Center.
Silverio spent eight years in total with the Yellow Jackets: four as a student-athlete followed by four as an assistant coach. She helped land a No. 6-ranked recruiting class for Georgia Tech in 2013 before she joined the Ducks. Some of her former players returned to Eugene to go against their former coach on Sunday.
“It was a great feeling to have them here, and very humbling that they came out to play us,” Silverio said. “They’re doing great. All of their players are developing every year and they’re a very, very talented team.”
The Ducks won one of their three doubles matches, with Nia Rose and Rifanty Dwi Kahfiani beating Nami Otsuka and Nadia Gizdova 7-5. The teams of Tobita/Shweta Sangwan and Kluiving/Eshet both lost their matches 6-2.
In singles play, junior Alyssa Tobita earned the Ducks’ lone point in the competition by beating Johnnise Renaud in three sets. Sophomore Sangwan came close in an animated match against Paige Hourigan, but ultimately lost 6-0, 6-7, 10-6.
“[Playing Georgia Tech] was definitely a good challenge,” Sangwan said. “This definitely prepares us for future [matches] because now we know what’s coming.”
Freshman Julia Eshet agreed that the Yellow Jackets proved to be the Ducks’ toughest competitors to date.
“Sometimes it’s good to lose because when you lose you see what you’re missing,” Eshet said. “You see parts of your game that you need to work on, areas you need to focus on. Obviously I want to win, but I do think that it was good that we lost today.”
Eshet, who wore a flexible knee brace due to shin splints, lost her match 6-1, 6-0 to Otsuka. Rose and Dwi Kahfiani also lost their singles matches in two sets. Senior Marlou Kluiving lost in three.
“There were great battles up and down the line, but certainly hats off to Georgia Tech because they executed better today,” Silverio said. “But again, it was great for our team to see this and be able to learn from it.”
Follow Alexa Chedid on Twitter @alexachedid18