Demonstrating its versatility and depth, the No. 23-ranked Oregon women’s tennis team (7-0) secured two big wins at home against nationally ranked opponents this weekend.
The Ducks’ 4-3 win against No. 49 Colorado (6-3) on Saturday was a coming-of-age passage for the Oregon freshmen.
More than two hours into the match, Oregon was down 3-2 and had lost three of its first four singles matches, and only first-year players Carmen Seremeta and Claudia Hirt were left on the court.
Seremeta proved unshakable at the No. 3 roster spot as she methodically chipped away at Ewa Losinski, winning 7-5, 7-5 to tie up a crucial third point for the Ducks.
The match lay solely in the hands of Claudia Hirt at the No. 6 singles position. Hirt was trying to stage a comeback against Gleisy Torres Torres, after having lost the first set 7-5.
“I knew I was the last one on the court, but I had no idea what the score was, and honestly, I didn’t want to know,” Hirt said. “I started getting nervous when I saw the whole crowd converging on my court. They were done with all the other matches, and suddenly, here were all the people, and back there were all the people, and I was like ‘Oh my God, now everyone’s watching me!’”
Despite the pressure and some questionable officiating in the third set, the freshman from Lucerne, Switzerland, fought through.
“It was close in the first set, but I knew I could do so much better,” Hirt said. “I had problems with her play at first because I don’t like players who play soft, high balls. I have trouble with that. So I did my best in the second, won that set, and in the third I started playing better.”
“I’m very proud of Claudia,” Oregon women’s coach Nils Schyllander said. “At
4-3, she was down 0-40, and she hit four huge serves to not even let the girl into the point. She played great today.”
Even after Hirt’s top-notch service game, Torres Torres refused to roll over and play dead. Serving to stay in the match at 5-3, the Colorado player forced Hirt to deuce three times in the final set before Hirt finally managed to close out the battle and take the match 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
“It was a real mental battle out there,” Hirt said. “I knew that it was very important to win this match, and I just started focusing very hard.” Teammate Anna Leksinska agreed.
“It was an amazing win,” Leksinska said. “We were down 3-2 with two freshmen on the court, which in any other situation, could be a big-ass scary situation. But they really stepped up to the plate and didn’t get tight.”
Earlier, Leksinska had lost her own match against Franziska Jendrian 6-3, 6-3.
“My opponent was just- we call it in tennis -sitting in a tree. She was just on fire. Any short ball I gave her, she took advantage of it. It just wasn’t my day today, and my girl played well,” Leksinska said. “And that’s what’s great about this as a team sport. The team can win even when you don’t.”
The team won big against No. 69 Pacific on Sunday, with points coming from different Ducks in Oregon’s 6-1 victory.
Leksinska reversed her fortunes from the day before, and shut out Clara Schuhmacher 6-0, 6-0 in less than an hour.
“I was disappointed with my match yesterday and with our doubles performance today, so this feels great,” said Leksinska, who had earlier lost her doubles match 8-7 (7-2). “There’s nothing better than a double bagel to make me feel better about myself, and heck yeah, I was hungry!”
Junior Monica Hoz de Vila saw action for the second time in two weeks, and she orchestrated a 6-1, 6-0 win over Pacific’s Helen Schneider.
“Today didn’t feel perfect, but I did what I had to do,” Hoz de Vila said. “But I’m definitely more confident and more comfortable with myself than I was last year.”
Dominika Dieskova, Carmen Seremeta and Ceci Olivos also won their matches in straight sets, with No. 26 ranked Dieskova extending her personal undefeated streak to seven matches.
“It feels great to be 7-0 as a team,” Leksinska said. “Especially since we came into the season with everyone so young and inexperienced. Now we have seven matches under our belts, seven wins. There’s nothing stopping us now!”
In California for the weekend, the Oregon men’s tennis team (5-2) dropped its second match in as many weeks to UC Santa Barbara.
The Ducks lost 4-2 to the Gauchos after both teams agreed to play their singles matches first because weather forecasts predicted heavy rains for the area. A heavy downpour later kept the doubles teams off the court, and the match was decided based on singles play.
Senior Markus Schiller and freshman Gustavo Loza were the only two Ducks who managed to secure wins. Schiller put together a comeback victory to beat Santa Barbara’s Elad Stern 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Loza defeated Max Taylor in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3.
“Gustavo was playing in just the third match of his collegiate career, and he did a good job,” Oregon men’s coach Kevin Kowalik said.
After a mediocre start to his season, the freshman from Mexico had been putting in extra practice time on his own, according to Kowalik.
“Gustavo’s been working hard, coming out twice a day – even on days off – just to hit around,” Kowalik said. “He hadn’t been playing well at first, and he needed to find his rhythm. Now he’s doing much better.”
Loza is now 1-1 in two singles starts on the season.