For three University women’s tennis players, this weekend’s home matchups will be their last as Oregon Ducks. Seniors Claudia Hirt, Cecilia Olivos and Carmen Seremeta will lead the way for the Ducks as they take on San Diego tomorrow at 2 p.m., and Portland State on Saturday at noon.
The three seniors, who have each been with the Oregon team since they were freshmen, have inevitably grown close over their last four years, both on the court and off of it. The seniors live together as well, which will undoubtedly make this weekend a very emotional experience.
“We have been playing together for so long that it’s a little bit scary that it’s coming to an end,” Seremeta said. “The three of us are so close.
“But it has been an absolutely amazing experience,” Seremeta said of her career. “I don’t think anything will compare to this for the rest of my life.”
Oregon enters its final home stand with a 7-9 record overall with a 2-4 record in the Pacific-10 Conference, which does not include its first win over Washington State on Feb. 20.
“Our year has been plagued with injuries,” said third-year head coach Paul Reber. “There have been a few matches that we should’ve won, but just didn’t play the way we know we can.”
Seremeta shared similar feelings.
“Honestly, it has been pretty disappointing,” she stated. “We had one tough loss to Washington State, but other than that I feel we’ve played well.”
Though the season has not gone quite as well as the Duck women might have hoped, Reber still has plenty of confidence heading into tonight’s matchup.
“I expect to get two wins this weekend,” he said.
As Oregon looks to even up its record for the year at 9-9, they will need more strong play from its two freshmen, Trudie du Toit and Madelie Janse van Rensburg.
“(Trudie and Madelie) have been doing really well for us,” Reber continued.
Though they are often playing in the No. 4 to No. 6 range, their importance to the team has still been evident. During spring break, du Toit picked up the Ducks’ only win against the No. 21 LSU Tigers, defeating Kylie Adamek in the No. 6 singles match in two sets, 6-2, 6-2.
While the Oregon team has not matched up with either San Diego or Portland State over the past couple seasons, Reber feels that they have played a few similar opponents.
“We don’t know a ton about them,” he said. “But I think they’re a pretty scrappy team, that gets a lot of balls back.”
But if the rainy weather continues, Reber feels the Ducks may have an advantage right from the beginning, as neither teams they will be facing are used to playing indoors.
“It is going to be a big weekend for the seniors,” Reber concluded. “They all want to go out on a positive note.”
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