As the Oregon tennis teams near the midway point of their seasons, the low-caliber matches become less frequent, and teams begin their runs to the NCAA tournament.
Both the men and women face some of the biggest matches of their seasons this weekend at the Student Tennis Center and in Los Angeles.
The No. 68-ranked Duck men are riding a three-match winning streak and hope to make it five against UC-Santa Barbara and Pacific-10 Conference foe Washington.
In wins against ranked foes New Mexico State and Pacific, Oregon received good output from its top three singles players in Oded Teig, Martin Pawlowski and Buck Mink.
“Oded and Buck really stepped it up last weekend, and Martin is really starting to come along in the No. 2 position,” Oregon men’s coach Chris Russell said. “We’ll need continued output from them this weekend too.”
UC-Santa Barbara visits the Student Tennis Center tonight at 5 p.m. The Guachos are 2-5 on the season but have faced a schedule similar to Oregon’s in toughness.
“UCSB is very competitive and has had some tough losses,” Russell said. “They’re very young, but if you let them get close they’ll battle with you.”
Russell is a former coach and player for the Guachos.
On Sunday, No. 6 Washington will visit the Student Tennis Center, becoming only the second top-10 team to enter the Ducks’ new home. The Huskies are 5-4 on the season but have wins over No. 3 Duke and No. 8 Florida. Washington lost only two players from a team that placed third in the conference last season.
“Washington is as tough as you get,” Russell said. “We match up well with them, but we’ve got our work cut out for us. If we do the things we did last weekend, we’ll be fine.”
The No. 52 Oregon women continue a vicious Pac-10 Conference road schedule against the Los Angeles schools.
No. 11 Southern California (6-3) hosts the Ducks today at 1:30 p.m. The Trojans are led by No. 31 Jewel Peterson and Anita Loyola.
UCLA, ranked No. 18, has lost four straight matches since ace Sarah Walker went down with an injury. The Ducks and Bruins tangle at 11 a.m. Saturday at the L.A. Tennis Center.
The men’s game is free to the public. Free pizza will be served between doubles and singles matches.