The Oregon women’s tennis team opened up Pacific-10 Conference play on the road by splitting a pair of dual matches.
The Ducks (9-2 overall, 1-1 Pac-10) fell to
No. 37 Arizona State 7-0 Saturday, but defeated No. 25 Arizona 4-3 on Friday.
The loss to Arizona State was the first time Oregon was shut out in 24 dual matches. The last shutout occurred against California on
Feb. 28, 2004.
Senior Davina Mendiburu came closest to capturing a point for the Ducks after her singles match went to three sets. However, Mendiburu was upended by the Sun Devils’ Jessica Leitch, 6-3, 3-6, (10-7).
In Friday’s game, junior Anna Leksinska clinched the win against Arizona when she defeated the Wildcats’ Kasia Jakowlew at the
No. 5 position in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.
“I was really proud that we performed as well as we did,” Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said. “It was our first competition
outside since October, so we had to adapt to
the surroundings.”
The Oregon women hold the same record through 11 matches as last season, but the team will need to sustain its early season momentum that lead the Ducks to win their first eight matches. In 2004, the Ducks saw their record slide from 9-0 to 9-7 in less than a month during the Pac-10 schedule.
The Ducks’ next three matches are at home against non-conference opponents. Boise State visits Eugene for the second straight season Saturday at noon. Oregon then hosts Princeton on March 13 and Brigham Young on March 19.
Pac-10 play will resume March 22 when the 25th-ranked Ducks travel to Seattle to face Washington. In the teams’ last meeting on
Feb. 12 in Eugene, the Huskies triumphed with a 5-2 victory.

Alex Tam is a freelance reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald.