Who can think of a bigger way to kick off a new facility than to bring in some of the top teams in the nation?
But No. 1 Stanford and No. 5 California?
The Oregon women’s tennis team will have its hands full in its first-ever home tennis matches at the Student Tennis Center. The Ducks play Stanford at noon Saturday, then face off with Cal at noon Sunday.
Oregon faces the two toughest teams in the Pacific-10 Conference, as both the Golden Bears and the Cardinal were in the final four the last two seasons. Oregon will be looking for its first-ever wins against the Bay Area schools since the creation of the Pac-10.
Oregon ace Monika Geiczys will square off with No. 8 Lauren Kalvaria of Stanford and No. 38 Raquel Kops-Jones of Cal. The Cardinal has three other players ranked in the top-25 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls.
The Ducks got a close-up look at their conference rivals last weekend at the Pac-10 Indoor meet in Seattle. Junior Adeline Arnaud defeated Cal’s Katherine Havilcek, while junior Janice Nyland and sophomore Jeanette Mattsson were upended by Stanford players.
Stanford and Cal also bring in highly ranked doubles teams. Stanford’s team of Gabriela Lastra and Kalvaria is ranked No. 3. Cal’s top team is No. 17 Nicole Havilcek and Jieun Jacobs.
Both matches begin at noon at the Student Tennis Center behind the Recreation Center on East 15th Street.
The Oregon men are also in action this weekend. The Ducks will shake off the holiday cobwebs in Bloomington, Minn. for the Foster Klima Ice Volleys.
Sophomore Oded Teig will lead Oregon against No. 30 Indiana State today at 6 p.m. The winner advances to play either No. 18 Minnesota or North Carolina State on Saturday.