Jonathan House Emerald
Freshman Manuel Kost made his debut as the No. 1 singles player for the Ducks on Friday with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) victory over Frank Schmitt of St. Mary’s.
There were some new faces, but the results were the same for the Oregon men’s tennis team.
Head coach Chris Russell changed the lineup during the weekend as the Ducks defeated St. Mary’s, 7-0, and Portland 4-3 to raise their record to 5-1.
“We needed to rest a few guys and keep them healthy,” Russell said. “And the other guys stepped up and played very well for us.”
Against St. Mary’s, freshman Johan Paalberg played in his first singles match and sophomore Chris King played his second of the season.
Paalberg beat Josh Farley of St. Mary’s in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
“I played OK,” Paalberg said. “I missed quite a few shots, but it felt really good to be out there playing singles and helping the team win.”
King beat J.J. Witlinger 6-2, 6-2 and played his first doubles match of the season, teaming with senior Jason Menke. They won their doubles match 8-2.
“It was great out there today,” King said. “This is a real confidence booster for me.”
“Everyone needs to be able to play, and we got that chance this weekend,” Russell said.
During the weekend, Russell used freshman Manuel Kost as the No. 1 singles player for the first time. He defeated St. Mary’s Frank Schmitt 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).
“The guy he played today was very tough, but Kost played very well and didn’t let him force a third set,” Russell said.
Against Portland, Kost lost his match 6-3, 6-1 against No. 26 Travis Parrott, the highest ranked singles player Oregon has faced this year.
The Ducks won the doubles point and sophomore Martin Pawlowski, freshman Sven Swinnen and King won their singles matches to defeat Portland 4-3.
As the No. 2 singles player, junior Oded Tieg lost to No. 75 Peter Malacek 7-6, 6-0. Prior to the St. Mary’s match, Tieg had been the No. 1 singles player in every match but Idaho.
“Both Tieg and Kost need to be prepared to play both No. 1 and No. 2 for us,” Russell said. “This allows us the most flexibility and keeps us less predictable.”
Women’s tennis
The Oregon women’s tennis team put up a strong showing in Southern California during the weekend, beating No. 66 Loyola Marymount and No. 60 San Diego before falling to No. 44 San Diego State.
The No. 65 Ducks (6-1 overall) beat Loyola Marymount 4-3 on Friday. Oregon lost the doubles point but won four out of six singles matches to beat the Lions, who defeated the Ducks last season.
“We lost 4-3 to them last year, so this was sweet revenge,” head coach Jack Griffin said.
After losing her first set 7-6, senior Vickie Gunnarsson rallied to win the next two sets 6-2, 6-1.
Senior Janice Nyland and junior Monika Gieczys picked up the lone doubles victory for Oregon, beating Edit Pakay and Penka Fileva, 8-6.
On Saturday, the Ducks easily defeated San Diego, 6-1, winning all three doubles matches and five of six singles.
Sophomore Davina Mendiburu, Nyland, senior Adeline Arnaud, freshman Ester Bak and Gunnarsson all won singles matches for Oregon. Gieczys suffered the only singles loss in the match.
The victories over Loyola Marymount and San Diego put improved the Ducks record to 6-0. But they still had a match against San Diego State.
On Sunday, Oregon lost to the Aztecs 5-2 to wrap up a tough weekend of tennis.
The Ducks lost the doubles point and four of six singles matches. The lone victors for Oregon were Gunnarsson, 6-2, 6-1 over Julie Chidley, and Gieczys, 6-1, 6-3 over Katey Becker.
Over the weekend, Gunnarsson stayed unbeaten in singles during dual-match play.
The Ducks will start their Pacific-10 Conference season by hosting Arizona on Feb. 16 and Arizona State on Feb. 17.
Peter Martini is a freelance
reporter for the Emerald.