Just as the men’s tennis team cleared one major Pacific-10 Conference hurdle, another larger hurdle appears on the horizon.
After earning their first Pac-10 win in five years, the Ducks still need one more Pac-10 win to be considered for the NCAA tournament in May. A win will not come easy, as it’s No. 2 UCLA and No. 19 Southern California coming to Eugene this weekend.
The No. 55 Ducks, winners of eight of their last ten matches, has momentum on their side. Last weekend, head coach Chris Russell earned his first two Pac-10 wins ever as the Ducks upset Arizona and Arizona State.
“It will be an exciting weekend of tennis,” Russell said. “[The LA schools] will not take us lightly. They know we can win at a higher level.”
The Los Angeles schools will provide a much tougher challenge for the Ducks. UCLA is 17-3 on the season, with two of those losses coming to top-ranked Stanford. Last year, UCLA was the NCAA runner-up and has been ranked No. 1 for much of the season. The Bruins have four players ranked in the top 100: No. 26 Jong-Min Lee, No. 36 Brandon Kramer, No. 78 Jean-Julien Rojer and No. 94 Erfan Djahangiri.
UCLA’s other loss came at the hands of No. 4 Pepperdine, a team that narrowly defeated Oregon, 4-3.
USC will be hardened from a tough stretch of matches. In the past five contests, the Trojans lost to Stanford, UCLA and Pepperdine, all by less than two points. Leading USC (13-7, 3-2 Pac-10) is No. 58 Daniel Lange.
The Ducks counter with senior Guillermo Carter, who rose in the latest ITA rankings to No. 45. Sophomore Thomas Schneiter rejoined the rankings at No. 100 after a three-week hiatus.
The doubles combo of Carter and freshman Leslie Eisinga are ranked No. 39.
“They’ll come in here confident and prepared,” Russell said. “We’ve got to expect the ball to came back a lot.”
The matches will most likely be played indoors. The Ducks take on UCLA today at the Eugene Swim and Tennis Center and USC tomorrow at the Willow Creek Racquet Club, unless the weather is good enough to play outdoors on the 15th street courts.
The Oregon women wind down their season this weekend on the road. This weekend’s non-conference matches represent the last chance for the Ducks to impress the NCAA tournament committee. Oregon, losers in nine out of their last 10 matches, are 6-14 on the season.
“We have a very young team with six freshmen and sophomores and only one senior,” said head coach Jack Griffin in a released statement. “This is the time for them to show what they are made of.”
The No. 53 Ducks swing into Southern California for matches with UC-Irvine today and Long Beach State on Sunday.
UC-Irvine is celebrating their best season ever with a 16-5 record. No. 45 freshman Maureen Diaz leads a young Anteater team that has only one senior. UC-Irvine has steadily risen in the rankings from 72nd to their current ranking of No. 46.
Long Beach State is also a young team, but less dangerous than UC-Irvine. The 49ers are 10-10 on the year, 3-4 in the Big West. Junior College transfer Sophie Han leads the 49er attack.
“I just want [the team] to perform well and show some character out there,” Griffin said. “We still have a chance of making the tournament.”