The Oregon women’s tennis team took its shot this weekend at the Omni Hotel ITA Northwest Regional Championships, a week after the men had their chance.
The annual tournament, held this year at Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., pushes the winners of the singles and doubles draws to the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships at Michigan in November.
“We’ve had a few good weeks and we have a lot of girls playing well right now,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “We’re excited to face some top competition and see what we can do. I think all the girls are real excited.”
In the semifinals on Sunday, junior Daria Panova faced 12th seeded Margarita Karnaukhova of Sacramento State in an intense three-set match that ended with Panova winning in a tiebreaker — 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (9-7) — to move into the finals today at 10 a.m.
“She stepped up real big today,” Schyllander said. “It was one of the best matches that I’ve ever seen.”
The Ducks featured seven players in the singles draw, led by Panova, who is ranked 7th in the nation and inherited the No. 3 seed in the tournament. Senior Courtney Nagle was the other seeded Duck in the tournament at No. 8 and is ranked 35th nationally.
The first day of action saw all seven Ducks advance to the second round. Four moved onto the round of 32, including Panova, Nagle and two freshmen, Dominika Dieskova and Monica Hoz de Vila.
“It was a great (first) day for (us),” Schyllander said. “Freshmen really stepped up with huge wins. I’m very pleased. Hopefully, we can build on this.”
Dieskova impressed the whole field of competition and her team at her first regional championships.
The Slovakia native breezed through the first two rounds without losing a single game against St. Mary’s Kate Harden and Erin Hoe of Washington. In the round of 32, Dieskova defeated No. 9 seed Anna Erikson of Sacramento State in three sets, 6-0, 3-6, 6-0.
The freshman had a chance to move into the quarterfinals but was stopped short by No. 5 seed Lauren Barnikow of Stanford despite winning the first set. The match ended at 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.
“Dominika really made a name for herself by beating a really good player and then losing in a close three-setter to one of the top players in college tennis,” Schyllander said. “She definitely put herself on the map this weekend.”
Panova, the reigning Pac-10 women’s player of the year, was the highest seeded player left in the quarterfinals after No. 1 seed Erin Burdette of Stanford withdrew in the third round due to injury and 2nd-seeded Chloe Carlotti of Fresno State lost in the round of 32.
The third-year Duck earned a bye in the first round and won her first two matches in straight sets against Erica Barnes of Santa Clara and Idaho’s Sunel Niewoudt. In the round of 16, Panova defeated Stanford’s Theresa Logar in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. The quarterfinals saw the junior defeat No. 7 seed Claire Carter of Washington in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
On the doubles side, none of the four Oregon teams lasted to the quarterfinals. Three advanced to the round of 16, including the No. 4 seeded duo of Panova and Nagle. However, they were defeated by Stanford’s Emilia Anderson and Anne Yelsey, 8-5.
The shocker of the doubles draw almost came from Oregon duo junior Ester Bak and sophomore Jamie Marshall. The two Ducks lost a highly competitive match in the tiebreaker to the No. 2 seeded doubles team of Raquel Kops-Jones and Sasha Podkolzina of California, 9-8 (7-4).