Momentum and confidence from big wins or long winning streaks can carry a team to further success.
The men currently have momentum and confidence after coming off a rare upset over No. 18 Washington this past Sunday, while the women are searching to return to their early top season form.
The 45th-ranked Oregon men (7-2 overall) defeated the Huskies for only the sixth time in 113 matches and look to ride that momentum heading into play this weekend against No. 51 Georgia Tech today and No. 27 Minnesota on Sunday.
Oregon head coach Chris Russell said the upcoming matches are another chance for his team to defeat a couple of historically strong squads from top conferences.
“This weekend will be another great challenge and opportunity,” Russell said. “Both schools are traditionally in the NCAA Tournament and we know that we have to keep getting better if we want to be there.”
The Ducks’ three Switzerland natives have cemented the top three spots in the singles lineup. Juniors Manuel Kost and Sven Swinnen and sophomore Thomas Bieri make up that trio and have a combined 21-5 in dual match singles this year. Kost leads the group with an 8-0 record and is coming off an upset over Washington’s Alex Vlaski, who is currently the No. 3 singles player in the nation.
Minnesota (3-3) will be the toughest test this weekend and is lead by senior Aleksey Zharinov. The fourth-year Golden Gopher is 4-2 in singles this season and was ranked as high as 38th in the country during the preseason.
Minnesota head coach David Geatz said his team’s doubles is a concern and is an area that the Ducks have excelled in by winning 21 of 27 doubles matches so far this year.
“We expect (Oregon) to be a great team and especially tough to beat at home,” Geatz said. “We will need to play a very good match to be competitive with them.”

Women in L.A.
The Oregon women (9-3 overall, 2-2 Pacific-10 Conference) look to break their current three-match losing streak when they take on two more nationally ranked schools.
The 23rd-ranked Ducks travel to Los Angeles to face No. 13 USC today and 11th-ranked UCLA on Saturday in a stretch that sees the women play the next month in California.
Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said his team will need to step up their play after not winning any singles or doubles matches last weekend and put themselves in position to pull out an upset.
“We know that if we play well, we can compete at the highest level,” Schyllander said. “The desire is there — we just need to make sure that the execution is there as well.”