On its first weekend road trip, the No. 73 Oregon men’s tennis team used strong singles play to sweep three ranked teams and improve its record to 9-2 overall this season.
The Ducks defeated No. 63 New Mexico, 4-3, on Sunday in Las Cruces, N.M. But Oregon was dominated in doubles, losing 8-2, 8-3, 8-1.
The Ducks won four out of six singles matches behind strong play by junior Oded Teig at No. 2. Teig beat New Mexico’s Michael Polasek 6-3, 6-1.
Sophomore Chris King, freshman Sven Swinnen and sophomore Greg Dubourdieu gave Oregon strength at the bottom of the lineup, winning all three matches. Junior Jason Menke and freshman Manuel Kost lost at No. 3 and No. 1, respectively, for the Ducks.
On Saturday, Oregon beat No. 75 Texas-Arlington, 5-2, again showing its strength in singles. The Ducks played better in doubles with Teig and Swinnen winning their match 8-2. Kost and freshman Johan Paalberg lost 8-5, and Menke and sophomore Martin Pawlowski lost 9-8.
Oregon defeated No. 74 New Mexico State, 4-3, on Friday to open the weekend. The Ducks won four out of five singles but lost the doubles point, which set the tone for the weekend. The bottom three in the order went 9-0 for Oregon in the three matches.
“We just wrapped up one of the best road trips in the history of Oregon tennis,” head coach Chris Russell said.
Women’s tennis
drops two in Bay Area
The No. 60 Oregon women’s tennis team struggled during the weekend in two 7-0 losses at the Bay Area schools.
On Saturday, the Ducks lost to California, winning only one set in singles. Sophomore Courtney Nagle won the first set in her 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 loss to Nicole Havlicek of the Golden Bears.
In doubles, Oregon lost 8-5, 9-7, 8-5.
“We just didn’t play well down there,” head coach Jack Griffin said. “I’m not sure what happened.”
The Ducks lost to No. 3 Stanford on Friday. Against the Cardinal, Oregon only won one set in singles and two games in singles.
“We played against two really good teams, but we could’ve put up a better showing,” Griffin said.
Peter Martini is a freelance
reporter for the Emerald.