At last, the Oregon tennis teams will have a new home under one roof.
The completion of the new on-campus, indoor tennis facility ushers in a new era for Duck tennis.
This summer, the final touches were put on the $2.1 million, 48,000 square-foot facility that will be the new home for both the men’s and women’s teams. The building features six clay courts inside the climate controlled facility.
The Ducks will use it for practice and for all of their home games.
“We have everything we could possibly want here,” women’s coach Jack Griffin said. “To be able to have an on-campus facility for the students and the community is huge.”
Prior to this year, Oregon played the majority of its home games at the Eugene Swim and Tennis Center, six miles from campus, and at the Willow Creek Racquet Club, 10 miles from campus.
Practice was held, weather-permitting, at the covered outdoor courts adjacent to the new facility. Practice also took place at the indoor clubs whenever they were available, which often meant playing in the early morning or the late night.
“There’s only so much you can sell on indoor clubs to recruits,” Griffin said. “If you don’t have a proper place to develop and entice recruits, your program becomes stagnant.”
“We will never miss a practice,” men’s coach Chris Russell said. “California and Arizona can have the best weather and play outside, but if it rains — you don’t play.”
Not only will the new facility help the tennis teams, but it will also be available to students and physical education courses.
“It is as much ours as it is [the students’],” Griffin said. “Students should take advantage of it.”
The new facility is one major step in Russell and Griffin’s plan to build the Oregon tennis program into a national power. Last season, both Duck squads qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
“Now, there are no excuses,” Russell said. “We’ve been competitive before, but this is the next step towards getting to that next level of play.”
Although ready for play, the facility is still far from finished. Russell and Griffin have plans for stadium seating that will hold as many as 250-300 spectators and also implementing nine-by-three inch digital scoreboards for each of the six courts.
Things are looking optimistic for the Ducks this season in their new home with a core group of players returning and talented recruits expected to join the team.
Junior Thomas Schneiter and sophomore Monika Geiczys are the top returning players for each team. Schneiter was Oregon’s No. 2 singles player and helped the Ducks to only their second NCAA tournament appearance ever. The Worb, Switzerland, native was ranked as high as 69th by the International Tennis Association. Geiczys became the highest individually ranked freshman at Oregon since Alina Wygonowska, who graduated last spring.
Returning for the men are senior David Becker and sophomores Oded Teig, Leslie Eisinga and Jason Menke.
Last season, Eisinga and now-graduated Guillermo Carter qualified for the NCAA tournament in doubles competition. Although the team lost in the first round, it marked the first time ever that an Oregon freshman competed in the NCAA doubles tournament.
Teig also made a mark in his inaugural season. The Holon, Israel, native finished second on the Oregon single season victory list with 22 wins.
Added to the mix is highly touted recruit Paul “Buck” Mink. The Texan was ranked 45th nationally for Newman Smith High School while winning a state championship in singles.
The men hope to improve upon their 2000 fifth-place finish in the Pacific-10 conference, the highest by an Oregon tennis team ever.
Leading the efforts to try to acheive a third-straight NCAA team appearance for the women are juniors Sarah Colistro, Adeline Arnaud, Janice Nyland and Valerie Young. Sophomores Lisa Cummings and Jeanette MattssonC also will be looked upon to perform well. Arnaud and Nyland are two-year starters.
Colistro has had an injury-plagued career at Oregon, but is back and healthy for the Ducks.
The Oregon women have fielded an extremely young team in the past, but now the underclassmen of its 1999-00 campaign are seasoned veterans with two years of NCAA tournament experience under their belts.
Still, the Ducks will have no seniors on the roster, meaning the best is yet to come.