Now is the time for the Oregon women’s and men’s tennis teams
to continue their ascension from good to great.
The Oregon women (15-8 overall last season) look forward to returning All-American Daria Panova and last year’s freshman sensation Dominika Dieskova to a squad that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
“We feel very good and anytime you return seven of eight from the best team in school history, you got to feel very good as a coach,” Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said.
Panova, who is a senior, won a school record 32 singles matches last season and is one victory away from becoming Oregon’s all-time career wins leader at 77.
However, Panova bowed out of the first round at the NCAA Individual Championships last spring ; she is now eager to come back and show that she is one the nation’s elite players.
“She’s one of the top 10 to 15 people in the country that can win the whole thing,” Schyllander said.
Behind Panova and Dieskova, the final four spots in the singles lineup are up in the air, Schyllander said.
With the loss of Courtney Nagle, a senior leader last year, the Ducks will look to Davina Mendiburu, Anna Leksinka and Ester Bak to fill the void at the middle parts of the lineup.
Men optimistic, too
The Oregon men (9-11 overall last season) face a similar situation as the women — losing one senior and eagerly awaiting the return of their top two players.
Seniors to-be Sven Swinnen and Manuel Kost lead the Duck men, who made the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2000.
With the return of those two key players, the Ducks have high hopes to return to the national stage.
“It’s hard to put into words how optimistic we are,” Oregon head coach Chris Russell said. “We’ve never had two guys coming back with those types of credentials.”
Behind Swinnen and Kost, Oregon will look to a group consisting of Thomas Bieri, Markus Schiller, Arron Spencer and newcomer Chad Wilson to fill out the rest of the singles lineup.
Russell said it is up to the players to realize their potential this year.
“We can try to inspire and motivate and create a fun environment, but they need to be able to turn around and be serious about being a championship level team,” Russell said.

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