The Oregon men are looking ahead to a grueling dual-season schedule when they take on three opponents in the next four days.
The Ducks (1-0) will play No. 61 Brigham Young (1-1) in the Student Tennis Center today at 5 p.m.
Oregon, currently ranked one spot ahead of Brigham Young at No. 60, is coming off a season-opening win against Santa Clara, 5-2. After putting together four singles wins and sweeping all three doubles matches, led by sophomore Thomas Bieri and junior Manuel Kost, head coach Chris Russell said his young team needs to continue improving its play.
“It is a good start (to the season),” Russell said. “Our goal is get better. We need to play a little more fearlessly and not let the emotions get in the way of our guys’ game styles.”
The historically strong Brigham Young men’s tennis program is led by No. 82-ranked Erik Nyman. The Cougars have won nine Mountain West Conference championships, including five singles and four doubles champions.
However, Oregon has had the upper hand the past two years, winning both of their head-to-head matches. In Provo, Utah, last year, the Ducks won the dual match, 5-2, behind the singles play of junior Sven Swinnen, and they received strong support from Bieri and Kost. In 2002, Oregon slipped by in a 4-3 upset.
The Cougars’ first-year head coach Brad Pearce said they are ready for their early season matches after coming off an easy 7-0 victory over Utah State and a tough 5-2 loss to Denver.
“I am very excited about this week,” Pearce said. “I really feel like our guys are ready to take on (Oregon). They gained a lot of confidence from last week’s match. This will be a good trip for us.”
The Oregon men will continue action throughout the weekend, hosting the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (0-1) of the Sun Belt Conference at 11 a.m. Saturday and the Pacific Tigers, from the Big West Conference, at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Russell said this week will be a true test for his team to see how they will react to playing three matches in four days against up-and-coming men’s tennis programs.
“This will be a challenging and revealing three matches for us,” he said. “All three are programs that are on the rise, but we like to think that we are as well. The team that has the most hunger this weekend should prevail.”