The Oregon women’s tennis team split a doubleheader on Friday, before pulling out a victory Sunday over Sacramento State behind a win from senior Anna Powaska.
The Ducks (7-7 overall) opened the weekend’s play against the University of Portland, a team they were hoping to play in the evening session of the doubleheader. Instead, Oregon faced a talented Nevada team on tired legs.
“It was tough having Nevada as the second match,” said Oregon coach Paul Reber. “You’d like to play the tougher opponent in the first match, but that didn’t happen.”
Against the Pilots, Oregon swept the doubles play and clinched the victory with two singles win, allowing them to take a 5-0 led. To offset some of the fatigue his team would face by playing another match later that day, Reber elected to have Powaska and Siobhan Cavan default their matches, ending the match with a 5-2 victory.
The Ducks continued their season-long theme of uncertain doubles play later in the evening against the Wolfpack, losing the doubles point.
“One thing that we’ve struggled with all season, and I think it has to do with having a young team that isn’t very experienced in doubles, is that we’ve had slow starts and picked it up as the match has gone on,” said Reber. “Ohio State, Washington State and Nevada are three good recent examples. We didn’t come out really strong – we paid a price for it, got in a hole and couldn’t dig ourselves out of it. We turned that around against Sacramento State.”
Powaska, Carmen Seremeta and Claudia Hirt won singles matches against Nevada, but the Ducks fell one match short, losing 4-3.
Oregon came into Sunday’s match well-rested against Sacramento State, a team the Ducks lost to 4-3 last season.
Once again, Oregon failed to get the doubles point.
But unlike the last few matches, the Ducks played with intensity and determination from the beginning of the matches. Seremeta, Hirt and Celine Rolly pulled out victories, setting the stage for Powaska’s match-determining singles performance.
During the match Powaska and Sacramento State sophomore Anastassia Lyssenko exchanged words, and the intensity of the match was turned up a notch.
“It was a great match – a little heated. Anna Powaska and her opponent had a few words with each other, and I told my assistant coach, ‘If there is poetic justice, the match will come down to Anna, our senior,’” Reber said. “As hard as she worked this year, and for her to be on the court to win the match after losing 4-3 last year, it was great for her to go into singles play with a chance to win the match.”
Apparently, poetic justice ran aplenty, as Powaska pulled out a 6-2 win in the third set to give the Ducks the 4-3 match win, and a .500 record on the season.
The Ducks face Arizona and No. 13 Arizona State this weekend, hoping to get their first Pacific-10 Conference wins of the season.