Although an NCAA tournament bid is unlikely for either Oregon tennis team, several individual berths are up for grabs today through Sunday at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships in Ojai, Calif.
Five men and three women represent the Ducks at the Pac-10s, which coincide with the Ojai Valley Amateur Tournament, the Big West Championships, the Division 3 Regionals and the California High School Championships. More than 1,000 participants will play during the three-day tennis marathon.
Thirty-two singles players and 16 doubles teams will compete in the single-elimination Pac-10 tournament featuring nine conference schools. Its outcome will have a heavy effect on who is selected to go to the NCAA Championships on May 15 in Malibu, Calif.
Representing the Duck men are seniors Guillermo Carter and Joaquin Hamdan, sophomore Thomas Schneiter and freshmen Oded Teig and Leslie Eisinga. With a No. 45 ranking, Carter is the seventh-highest ranked Pac-10 player. He will face No. 94 Scotty Scott of Stanford in the first round today.
The only other ranked Duck is No. 100 Schneiter, who faces Washington’s Jeremy Berman. Earning a tough first-round draw was Hamdan, who takes on Stanford’s No. 12 Geoff Abrams. Teig will face Arizona State’s Matt Klinger.
On Friday, the 39th-ranked doubles team of Carter and Eisinga take on UCLA’s Jean-Julien Rojer and Jean-Noel Grinda. Schneiter and Teig face California’s John Paul Fruttero and David Tzou.
On the women’s side, No. 61 senior Alina Wygonowska and No. 62 freshman Monika Geiczys have the best chance of any Duck for a NCAA bid. Wygonowska plays Arizona’s Uzma Kahn while Geiczys battles Southern California’s No. 56 Kara Warketin.
Sophomore Janice Nyland hopes to continue her recent win streak against Arizona State’s No. 36 Karin Palme.
Oregon’s lone doubles team, Geiczys and Nyland, will take on UCLA’s Abigail Spears and Elizabeth Schmidt.
“Every match will be a tough one,” women’s coach Jack Griffin said. “It’s a great opportunity for Alina and Monika to solidify their spot in the NCAAs.”