The Tennis Club continued its recent hot streak with league victories over Western Washington and Oregon State in Corvallis on April 8.
The first match of the day for the team came against the only other team ever to win the four-year-old league championship, Western Washington. The tournament as a whole consists of nine separate matches, with two matches each in men’s and women’s singles and doubles capped off by one mixed doubles match.
Oregon swept the singles matches, highlighted by the performance of Patrick Wilhelm. He fell behind in the No. 1 men’s singles match 0-3 in the first set before winning the next six games to take the set. He won the second set 6-1. The Club team also prevailed in the women’s and men’s first doubles matches to defeat Western Washington 6-3.
“(Western Washington) has really good doubles players, so our singles pulled it out for us,” Club coordinator Erin Small said.
Oregon took to the courts later the same day, this time against Oregon State. The team took three of the four singles matches, including a “double bagel” 6-0, 6-0 victory by Beth Miller, who had only played doubles against Western Washington. Oregon also recorded wins in the second men’s doubles match and both women’s doubles matches, putting the overall score at 6-3. Oregon State was forced to forfeit the second women’s doubles because of a lack of players.
“OSU has always struggled with women’s turnout,” Small said. “I think we advertise better, and our structured practice helps. Even during conditioning we’re able to laugh and joke around.”
Turnout for Oregon Club tennis has steadily increased in recent years, forcing the team to hold tryouts to whittle the hopefuls down to 24, 12 men and 12 women.
“Each year we get a little bit more,” Small said. “But we kind of hit our limit.”
Oregon will be able to use its depth this week at the USA Team Tennis National Campus Championship April 20-22 in Austin, Texas. Oregon qualified for the tournamentvia an automatic bid earned by winning a sectional tournament Nov. 5-6. Last year at nationals, the Club advanced to the semifinals in one of the consolation brackets.
The tournament features a round-robin stage with four-team pools before advancing to the elimination brackets. Oregon’s first team received a high seeding in the tournament along with its automatic bid. The Club will field two whole squads to use its full roster.
“Our second team has some very good players on it,” Small said.
The last date on the Club’s schedule occurs next month at the Pacific Northwest end-of-year tournament. Thanks in part to its victories over Western Washington and Oregon State, Oregon will enjoy a high seed in the tournament. There is a possibility that Oregon will face Washington, the only team in the league to beat it this season, a close 5-4 loss.
“We feel like we can turn it around,” Small said.