For some, Hawaii is a tropical
island paradise. For the No. 73 Oregon men’s tennis team, it was a difficult place to start the spring season.
The Ducks struggled against two teams in the top 15 at the Kona Invitational in Waikoloa, Hawaii over the weekend. Saturday, the Ducks were without No. 64 Manuel Kost, out with a strained muscle, against No. 2 Illinois. In singles play,
Illinois won all six matches and the Ducks took two of three
in doubles.
Ducks Sven Swinnen and Oded Teig defeated No. 2 Amer Delic and Michael Calkins, 8-6. Jason Menke and Arron Spencer also teamed up to beat Illinois’ Ryler DeHeart and Chris Martin. Thomas Bieri and Junaid Hossain stayed close against No. 35 Brian Wilson and Phil Stolt, but fell 8-6.
“Doubles was definitely a good showing,” head coach Chris Russell said. “Oded and Sven played very well. Some of the other guys need to find a little more consistency.”
Sunday, with Kost sitting for the second day in a row and pronounced doubtful for Monday, the Ducks managed just two victories with one in singles and one in doubles. Hossain scored the singles win, beating Illinois’ Alex Hobson, 6-3, 6-1, and Menke/Spencer handled Texas A&M’s Khaled El Dorry and Cameron Fenner, 8-2. The top five players for the No. 13 Aggies were able to win all five singles matches and take two of the three doubles contests.
“Oded Teig has been very competitive at the No. 1 singles spot, so that’s been a real positive for us,” assistant coach Ross Duncan said. “But the highlight was definitely the doubles play of Jason Menke and Arron Spencer.”
The Ducks closed out the Kona Invitational with matches against No. 23 Wake Forest on Monday evening and have their first home dual meet Jan. 24.