The Oregon women’s tennis team travels to California for the third time in four weeks to solidify an NCAA Tournament berth Saturday, while the Duck men will be fighting for their NCAA postseason lives against an angry pack of Huskies in Washington.
The Oregon men’s tennis team defeated the Huskies in a nonconference dual match earlier this season in Eugene, but Oregon head coach Chris Russell believes Washington will be gunning for the Ducks.
“We’re going up there with a big red target on our backs,” Russell said.
Oregon’s victory over the Huskies marked only the fifth win in 112 tries against Washington. With that win, Oregon goes to Washington confident it can pull off the upset.
“We know how to beat Washington now,” 88th-ranked Manuel Kost said. “We need to be prepared and come out with the same energy level.”
Kost gave the Ducks the win over Washington in their last matchup, defeating No. 9 Alex Vlaski.
“I hope he (Russell) lets me play Vlaski again,” Kost said. “I’ve beaten him four times in my career and I feel confident.”
Oregon junior Sven Swinnen enters Saturday’s match having lost one match in the last two months. Swinnen, ranked 35th, has won 10 of his last 11 singles matches, including a win over No. 6 Tobias Clemens of UCLA. Swinnen defeated freshman No. 42 Alex Slovic during the Ducks’ prior out against Washington.
“The whole season is going pretty well for me and I think people will be going after me now,” Swinnen said. Washington “lost for the first time in Eugene in a long time and I’m sure they want revenge.”
Oregon’s main concern at this point is getting into the NCAA Tournament, and Russell believes this match is the team’s chance to show the tournament committee it belongs.
“If the team wants to be playing in May, this is their chance to make a statement to the NCAA Selection Committee,” Russell said. “The Washington match couldn’t be a better opportunity.”

Women look to solidify position
The Oregon women’s tennis team is peaking at the right time and looks to finish the season strong in California against Long Beach State and Pepperdine.
“These matches all have postseason implications and we just need to keep our momentum going,”Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said.
Oregon has won five of its past six matches and hopes to continue its steady play.
“We’re in a great position and just need to stay focused and play one match at a time,” Schyllander said.
The Ducks’ strong play has put them into position to contend for an NCAA tournament berth.
“We can’t think about that right now,” Schyllander said. “That’s out of our hands and we need to concentrate on these next two matches.”
Freshman Dominika Dieskova comes in with the hot hand for the Ducks, winning six of her last seven matches. She has also moved herself into a tie for third-place on the single-season win list at Oregon with 18.
The road trip also marks the last regular season matches for senior Courtney Nagle.
“This is a big weekend for Courtney because it’s her last regular season matches and she’s starting to get healthy and play some good tennis,” Schyllander said.