Most teams wouldn’t call an 8-13 season — in which it lost the final seven matches of the year — a success.
But considering that the Oregon men’s tennis team consisted of five freshmen, two sophomores and a senior who have played together for only two months, the season was a triumphant victory.
After graduating three starters from a 12-10 NCAA qualifying team, head coach Chris Russell knew he would field a young team for the 2000-01 season. He just didn’t realize how young.
The Ducks experienced their biggest loss of the season before they even took to the courts. Projected ace Thomas Schneiter, who would be a junior, and No. 4 starter Leslie Eisinga decided to leave the team. Schneiter withdrew from school and went to his home in Worb, Switzerland, while Eisinga transferred to Nevada-Las Vegas.
“Thomas was a tremendous loss,” Russell said. “He embodied what we were trying to accomplish. That was a hole that was evident this year. In time we will have that back in the program.”
The departures left Russell scrambling to find replacements for the Ducks to even field a complete team. In addition to recruits Buck Mink and Chris King, Russell brought in a trio of European freshmen to shore up the Oregon roster. After an entire fall with only five players, Swedish player Martin Pawlowski, French player Greg Dubourdieu and Ukrainian Alexander Druzenko joined the team in early January, just in time for the regular season.
“They jumped right into the fire,” Russell said. “Some matured better than others.”
The team’s youth, coupled with playing in one of the nation’s toughest conferences, made for a rough season. The Ducks finished eighth in the Pacific-10 Conference with an 0-7 conference record. Every team excluding Oregon finished the regular season ranked in the top 40.
Oregon’s top veteran was sophomore Oded Teig, who played No. 3 for the Ducks as a freshman.
“We were hoping he’d be challenged at the top, and he was,” Russell said. “Playing as high as he did and coming out with a winning record is a real credit to Oded. We feel real positive about him in the future.”
Teig finished the season with a team-leading 21-17 record to push his career total to 43 wins, just four shy of the Oregon top-10 list. The Holon, Israel, native scored major upsets over Arizona State’s No. 69-ranked Nic Dubey and Washington’s No. 42 Matt Hanlin. Teig will return next season as one of the top players in the conference.
Fellow sophomore Jason Menke had a breakthrough season after being thrust into a leadership role. The Beaverton native out of Westview High finished the season 13-19, more than doubling his win total as a freshman.
Oregon’s lone senior, David Becker, had a similar season, finishing 13-20 in his last campaign. In his career, Becker played on two NCAA Tournament teams and compiled a 29-50 record.
After a promising start for the Ducks, in which they were 8-6 at the midway point of the season, Oregon collapsed. The Ducks left the friendly confines of their new Student Tennis Center and hit the road for the rest of the season. Oregon’s youth showed as they lost their final seven matches and dropped out of the national rankings.
“When we hit the road we didn’t play at the level we did at home,” Russell said. “With a young team, it was more glaring than in the past. We had lots of individuals play well at the end of the season but just couldn’t pull it together.”
There was some consolation that all but one of Oregon’s losses came against ranked opponents. The brightest point in the season came in mid-February, when the Ducks disposed of visiting New Mexico State and Pacific by scores of 5-2.
Next season looks bright for Oregon as they lose only Becker, and Russell plans to bring a new batch of talented recruits.
“In a way, it’s tough,” Russell said. “But it could be the best thing that happens to [them]. I see a real good nucleus of guys who have gotten better over the season. The future looks good.”