Oregon men’s tennis is looking to make a strong first impression when the winter season opens at home next weekend with matches against Seattle U and UC Santa Barbara.
After a rocky end to their fall season, the Ducks are hoping to complete the sweep of Seattle U once again, while introducing a few new players to the Oregon team.
The difficult end to the fall season came at the Kramer Classic in mid-November when the doubles team of Daan Maasland and Simon Stevens fell 8-3 to the SMU doubles team that ended up winning the bracket.
In singles play, the two put up a fight but in the end fell to their opponents from UCLA and SMU.
Even with the rocky finish, both Maasland and Stevens made their marks on the fall season. The duo was ranked No. 60 in the ITA pre-season doubles and proved their position by advancing to the ITA Regional semifinals in Seattle.
Next weekend, the doubles team is looking to repeat the past against Seattle U. Last year, the team beat the Seattle U duo of Connor Leahy and John Stormans with a 7-5 win.
In singles play against Seattle U, Maasland and Stevens also both took home wins — 6-0, 6-2 for Maasland and 6-2, 6-0 for Stevens.
The Ducks went on to sweep that match 7-0.
Jayson Amos will also be a player to watch in the Seattle U match. The California native went 23-10 overall last year including a single wins over his opponent from No. 36 Alabama and a doubles victory with his partner Cormac Clissold over No. 25 Cal.
While six returning players will see the court for the Ducks, Oregon will also welcome a few new faces to the home court.
Freshman Armando Soemarno joins the Ducks from Jakarta, Indonesia as does senior Bartosz Sawicki of Poland, Ethan Young-Smith of Bend, Oregon and Thomas Laurent of France.
Soemarno joined the Ducks as the No. 1 ranked junior in Indonesia and, with the help of his doubles partner Amos, won the Flight A title at the UC Santa Barbara Classic in early October.
Each of the Oregon newbies, with the exception of Laurent, competed for the Ducks during the fall season. The match against Seattle U will be their first at home.
The upcoming match against the Redhawks begins at 9 a.m. on Jan. 16, followed by a Monday match against U.C Santa Barbara.
Follow Madison Layton on Twitter @MadisonLayton01