The Oregon men’s tennis team looks to rebound and enjoy the comforts of home for the first time in almost a month. The men take on Arizona schools, while the women’s team travels to California to battle San Diego, San Diego State and Tulsa this weekend.
The men’s team, coming off losses to No. 9 Stanford and No. 34 California last week, will face No. 21 Arizona today and No. 37 Arizona State on Sunday. Head coach Chris Russell expects his 47th-ranked Ducks to return to form.
“We’re hopeful we can play the type of tennis we did against Washington,” said Russell. “These are both winnable matches, but neither team gives away much so we have to be prepared and come out energized and create breaks for ourselves.”
The doubles matches, according to Russell, are key for the rest of the day’s matches.
“Our doubles energy needs to be high if we expect to win,” said Russell. “It sets the tone for our singles play.”
Arizona (11-6 overall, 2-5 Pacific-10 Conference) comes into the match having won its past three by a combined score of 19-2. The Wildcats will be led by 64th-ranked sophomore Roger Matalonga, who has a 16-5 singles record and a 15-3 doubles record with his partner, junior Colin O’Grady.
Sunday’s opponent, Arizona State (7-8, 1-7), is coming off a loss to rival Arizona but has won three of its last four matches. Though it has a 1-7 conference record, its lone win came against fifth-ranked UCLA.
The women’s team travels to San Diego on the tails of a three-match winning streak with hopes to improve its record-breaking year.
“We feel very good coming off a real solid showing in Fresno, going 3-0,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “The karma is on our side and we will ride it south to San Diego.”
Eighth-ranked junior Daria Panova is closing in on her own school record for wins in a single season. Last year Panova smashed the Oregon record with 32 wins and this year she has 27 with five matches left.
“We feel very confident after last week and had many players step up for us due to injuries,” Schyllander said.
Today’s opponent, Tulsa, has won its last two matches and boasts two top-100 singles players in 75th-ranked Daniela Musolino (10-4) and 86th-ranked Ilona Somers (12-3). The Tulsa duo also makes up the 47th-ranked doubles team in the country.
The Ducks will play the Aztecs of San Diego State on Saturday. San Diego State has limped to a 5-9 record and has won only two of its last 11 matches. The duo of Dita Hauerlandova and Alesya Vidov has gone 11-2 in doubles dual matches this season. San Diego State beat the Ducks last year, 4-3.
Oregon closes the trip against 38th-ranked San Diego on Monday. San Diego has won seven of its last 10 matches, with all three losses coming at the hands of top-10 teams. The Toreros also have a pair of top-100 singles players in 61st-ranked Emma Murphy and 81st-ranked Lauren Perl. Murphy has lost one dual match this season, setting up a stellar No. 1 singles matchup against Panova.
“All the schools this weekend come from good programs and every match will be a dogfight,” Schyllander said.