The long wait is finally over.
Behind strong singles play, the Oregon women’s tennis team won its first Pacific-10 Conference match in more than two years. The No. 44 Ducks upset No. 19 Washington on Saturday in their first home outdoor match of the season before losing to Washington State on Sunday.
After losing the doubles point, Oregon won three of the first five singles matches to tie the Huskies, 3-3. The fate of the Ducks rested on senior Janice Nyland’s shoulders.
“She’s a senior, and we knew she would be able to handle the pressure in that situation,” Oregon head coach Jack Griffin said.
When sophomore Davina Mendiburu won her match, which made Nyland’s match the decisive point, Nyland trailed 5-4 in her third set.
“I didn’t even think about the pressure or the situation,” Nyland said. “I just tried to play smart and win smart points. I wanted her to make the mistakes.”
Nyland won the next two games to take a 6-5 lead, but Washington’s Dea Sumantri won the next game to even the score. Behind the support of her teammates and fans, Nyland won 7-2 in the tie-breaker to win the match 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7-2) and end the Ducks’ Pac-10 drought.
“I wasn’t as fatigued as she seemed to be during the tiebreaker,” said Nyland, who also won her singles match when Oregon last beat Washington on March 7, 1999. “It feels awesome to beat a Pac-10 team. One of our goals at the beginning of the season was that we wanted to be respected in the Pac-10, and now we are.”
It was the first Pac-10 win for the Ducks since Feb. 20, 2000, when they beat Arizona.
“This is a sweet victory,” Griffin said. “We’ve had a tough time the last couple of years, losing close matches and losing some players.”
Sophomore Courtney Nagle won her match, 6-0, 6-1, in the No. 6 spot for Oregon. Freshman Daria Panova beat No. 55 Claire Carter, 6-1, 6-1, in a match that lasted just 35 minutes.
“Daria’s been so huge for us,” Griffin said. “She not only won at No. 1 singles, she destroyed a very good player.”
After the emotional win Saturday, the Ducks lost 4-3 to Washington State to wrap up the regular season. Oregon lost the doubles point, which cost them the match.
Nyland, Mendiburu and Panova won their matches in straight sets. Junior Monika Gieczys, senior Vickie Gunnarsson and Nagle lost their matches for the Ducks, who now prepare for the Pac-10 Championships this weekend in Ojai, Calif.
“Over the last three weeks, we’ve put this program on the map,” assistant coach Nils Schyllander said. “We had big wins in Florida and Louisiana, and then we came back here and beat a very good Washington team.”
Oregon finished 5-17 last year, losing seven matches 4-3.
“This team learned a lot from the tough losses last season,” Griffin said. “It wasn’t fun to have such a bad record last season, but this team stayed together, and now we should compete in the NCAA Tournament.”
Panova said the team chemistry makes Oregon a tough team to beat in the postseason.
“We are like a big family,” Panova said. “We are so good right now. We play well in singles. If we can play good in doubles, then we can beat many teams.”
The tournament teams will be announced early next week, and the Ducks (13-10 overall, 1-9 Pac-10) are expected to be in.
“With our wins the past few weeks, I don’t see how we won’t be in the tournament,” Schyllander said.

Men struggle in Pac-10
The Oregon men’s tennis team finished the season winless in the Pac-10 for the second straight year, but it is still young and learning.
The Ducks lost 5-2 at No. 34 Washington on Saturday, despite winning the doubles point.
“We played very well in doubles up there,” Oregon head coach Chris Russell said. “We just couldn’t pull out the tough singles matches.”
Junior Oded Teig, sophomore Martin Pawlowski and freshman Sven Swinnen won sets for Oregon, but all lost their matches. Freshman Manuel Kost won the only singles set for the Ducks, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 over No. 28 Alex Vlaski.
Oregon now prepares for the Pac-10 Championships in Ojai, Calif.
“I’m hoping to get the guys out there and playing well,” Russell said.
The Ducks finished this season with a 12-10 overall record (0-7 Pac-10). The team has no seniors and all should return next season.
The team will find out next week if it will compete in the NCAA Tournament.
“This team has learned a lot and gained a lot of experience this year,” Russell said. “The competition just to make our singles lineup should be great next year.”