When you have a team of mostly freshmen and a few upperclassmen, the growth curve is steep. For the Oregon men’s tennis team, the road just got a little bit smoother.
Duck freshmen went 5-1 in singles play this weekend to propel No. 66 Oregon to two non-conference wins over ranked opponents.
“They’re getting tougher each match,” head coach Chris Russell said. “They haven’t played that many matches but they’re getting more experienced.”
On Friday, the Ducks handed No. 54-ranked New Mexico State a 5-2 loss at the Student Tennis Center. After being swept in doubles play, the Ducks responded with three two-set decisions in singles play to regain the lead. Oregon ended the match by winning two close extra-set matches.
Freshmen Buck Mink and Greg Dubourdieu each swept their opponents. Dubourdieu, who joined the team in January, defeated the Aggies’ Dan Even by identical 6-2 scores while Mink swept Al Dominguez, 7-6, 6-2. Sophomore Jason Menkeadded a 6-1, 6-5 win to push his season win total to nine.
Sophomore Oded Teig clinched the match for Oregon by defeating New Mexico State ace Cesar Obieta, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Senior David Becker iced the win, Oregon’s third of the season, with a long-haul 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 win over Ben Newcombe.
“This is the best team effort we have had all year,” Russell said. “All the guys did a good job fighting and competing at a level we could win at.”
The Ducks continued their two-match winning streak on Sunday with a 5-2 win over visiting Pacific.
“When doing back-to-back matches with a young team, you hope that after a good performance they are able to keep up their good play,” Russell said. “Today we even picked it up a notch.”
Freshmen Martin Pawlowski and Chris King contributed to the Ducks’ victory in doubles play. The No. 45 doubles team of Pawlowski and Becker dominated Pacific’s Alexander Fiedler and Claus Lindholm, 8-3, while King and Teig upended Maxime LaCroix and Tobias Abrahamson, 8-5.
Duck freshmen got off to slow start in singles play, but bounced back for three crucial wins. Both Pawlowski and Dubourdieu were down 4-1 before coming back to win their first sets.
Pawlowski swept Fiedler, 7-5, 6-2 while Mink earned an emotional 6-2, 7-5 win over Lindholm.
Dubourdieu evened his season record at 2-2 with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 win over fellow Frenchman LaCroix.
“Greg did a good job of turning around that match,” Russell said. “He’d beaten his guy before pretty handily back in France and after the first few games he really turned it on.”
Teig’s two-set win over the Tiger’s Dietrich Haug clinched the match for the Ducks, who are winners of their last three matches.
Oregon improves to 4-5 on the season and will try for its fourth straight win this Friday against UC-Santa Barbara.
“These are the kind of matches we need,” Russell said. “They develop confidence and it makes the guys want more wins like this.”
The wins were the Ducks’ first over ranked opponents this season, which will help Oregon in the spring when the NCAA selection committee convenes.