A team on the verge may be an old cliché in the world of sports, but this year’s Oregon women’s tennis team personified that phrase.
A program that was once destined for the cellar of the Pacific-10 Conference has risen from the floor to find itself inching closer to great things, not only in the Pac-10 but across the nation.
The Ducks were on the verge of beating rival Washington in the NCAA team tournament regional finals, but fell one heart-breaking point away in the seventh and deciding match. Washington, ranked 10th in the nation, moved on and ended the season one win away from the final four.
“With our last match coming down to two match points, you can’t even imagine the emotions that our team was going through unless you were there,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “The energy was awesome and we can use it as a carrot in front of us for next year.”
Junior Ester Bak believes it was a defining moment for the program.
“We were so close to victory,” Bak said. “But it will help us for next year and we will be ready to kick Washington’s butt.”
Washington is a sore subject for the Ducks. The Huskies were the first and last team to defeat Oregon this season, stopping the Ducks’ 9-0 start in a 5-2 victory over the Ducks. The Huskies came to Eugene later in the season and stole the deciding match to defeat Oregon, 4-3.
“These women know anytime the Huskies are involved, it is a big match,” Schyllander said. “We’re at a point now where we want to take the Northwest crown and take out the Huskies.”
Despite the Ducks’ problems with Washington, Oregon made a seven-win turnaround this year and posted a 17-9 record. Their sixth-place finish in the Pac-10 is their best since the conference combined divisions in 1997.
Schyllander said a highlight for the team came in February when the Ducks achieved the first sweep of the Arizona schools in program history.
“Those wins put us at another level in the Pac-10,” Schyllander said.
Individually, the season started great for the Ducks as junior Daria Panova won the Pac-10 Indoor Championship. Panova, ranked as high as seventh in the nation this year, continued to play well for the Ducks, going 32-14 and moving to the top of Oregon’s list for all-time wins with 84.
The Moscow native faltered at the end of the season; she was upset in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Championship, breaking her streak of three straight Pac-10 tournament titles. Panova was also upset in the first round of the NCAA Individual Tournament.
Freshman Dominika Dieskova stepped up for the Ducks in the No. 2 position, getting her biggest victory against No. 11 Dianne Holland of Arizona on Feb. 14.
Dieskova, ranked 71st in the nation, compiled a 20-17 record while becoming the first freshman in Oregon history to be selected for the NCAA Individual Tournament.
The Slovakian native also got her name in the Oregon record books with teammate Anna Leksinska by racking up 20 doubles wins, second all-time in a single season at Oregon.
“The sky is the limit for (Dieskova),” Schyllander said.
Senior captain Courtney Nagle ended her Oregon career third on the all-time wins list with 64 victories.

High hopes for next season
The Oregon program will be aiming high next season, as the Ducks will lose only one player and gain one of the top recruits in the country.
“I think we are finally starting to believe that we’re good,” Schyllander said. “We got a taste of playing some of the top programs in the country and we’re excited to build on that.”
Oregon adds 19-year-old Tatiana Luzhanska — ranked as high as the No. 54 junior player in the world by the International Tennis Federation — to next year’s squad.
With Panova, Dieskova, Bak, Leksinska, Davina Mendiburu, Bolivian national team member Monica Hoz de Vila and newcomer Luzhanska, the Ducks could be an imposing force in the Pac-10 for years to come.
“We’ve had a lot of success this year,” Mendiburu said. “Our goals will be higher next year because we believe we can be in the top 10 or 20 in the country and near the top of the Pac-10.”