The Oregon women’s tennis team has a tough road ahead of it as it gears up for the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference Championship tournament today in Ojai, Calif. The Ducks (9-13, 1-7) will match up with some of the toughest competition in the nation during the next few days.
The Pac-10 features four teams in the top-15 nationally with USC at No. 7, California at No. 8, UCLA at No. 11 and Stanford at No. 13. While the Cardinal (6-2) have taken home a share of the Pac-10 title every year since 1988, the UCLA Bruins (5-3) were co-champions last spring and will look to do more of the same this year.
But the Trojans of USC (20-2, 8-0) and the Golden Bears of California (17-4, 7-1) finished atop the Pac-10 standings this year. Arizona State and Washington both finished in the middle of the pack at 4-4 and 3-5 in Pac-10 play, respectively.
Arizona, Oregon and Washington State each finished the year at 1-7 to round out the competition.
“It hasn’t gone as well as we expected,” third-year head coach Paul Reber said. “I feel like we were three matches away from turning the season around.”
Reber referred back to the Ducks Feb. 22 matchup with the Ohio State Buckeyes, a match Reber felt could have been a key turning point in the season for his squad.
“Ohio State was a big one. We didn’t play as well as we could’ve,” he said. “A win like that, against a ranked opponent, makes a huge difference.”
Oregon was ranked No. 46 at the time, while the Buckeyes were No. 38.
“We just didn’t get it done,” he concluded.
While the Ducks dropped the match 5-2, they bounced back the following week with a big win over Arizona. Bouncing back will be a key theme for Oregon as it enters today’s tournament on a four-match losing streak.
“It’s strange, knowing that this is likely going to be my last competitive tennis,” senior Carmen Seremeta said. “It’s different, but at the same time the season is long enough that I will be ready once it is over.”
Seremeta has been one of the top players throughout the year for the Ducks at the No. 1 singles position, and she knows the Pac-10 tournament is an extremely high level of competition.
“It is by far the toughest conference in the country,” she said. “Some of the schools are so well-renowned worldwide and they can go out and get whomever they want, recruiting-wise.”
Seremeta also was not hesitant to give praise to the coaches from around the conference for the excellent job they do. Oregon freshman Trudie du Toit shared similar feelings as her senior counterpart.
“Since it’s my first year, I was expecting to improve as much as I can and just go out and do what I can to get better,” du Toit said. “Paul (Reber) and Maja (Kovacek) have helped me out a lot.”
The freshman suffered a back injury early in the fall and was sidelined for several months afterward. But du Toit has been able to recover over the course of the season and has shown she can be a very consistent player.
“Trudie has done a good job for us,” Reber said. “She’s become more mentally sound. Before she was just playing tennis, but now she is really becoming a tennis player.”
Seremeta and du Toit will play together at the No. 2 doubles position the next couple of days. The two have played together several times over the course of the season and should be able to compete with the tough Pac-10 competition.
Seremeta will also compete in singles competition, which begin today at 8 a.m. at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club.
“I just try to go out on the court and realize that I can win … knowing that I can win,” Seremeta said. “There is always a way – I just have to find it.”
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