The last time the No. 35 Oregon women’s tennis team won a match was against Washington State on Feb. 23. This weekend’s trip to Washington, then, might be the best way to end the Ducks’ four-game skid.
The Ducks take on No. 21 Washington in Seattle on Saturday. The last time the Ducks played the Huskies, Oregon lost 6-1 at the Student Tennis Center.
The Ducks, led by No. 18 Daria Panova, are looking to improve on their 2-6 record in the Pacific-10 Conference and 9-7 overall record.
Panova has struggled along with her teammates, as she went winless last weekend for the first time all season. Panova fell to No. 4 Jewel Peterson of USC and No. 31 Jackie Carleton of UCLA.
The No. 21 Huskies are 8-1 this season and currently on a six-game winning streak. Led by No. 36 Claire Carter, the Huskies have an upset over then-No. 12 Northwestern and have been ranked as high as No. 15 in the nation.
“We don’t worry about the rankings,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “We focus on our own game.”
Duck junior Courtney Nagle, ranked 40th in the nation, will likely battle No. 87 Dea Sumantri in singles and team up with Panova to take on No. 9 Carter/Darija Klaic in doubles. Klaic is also ranked No. 95 in singles competition and will most likely play Duck senior captain Monika Geiczys.
Sunday, the Ducks head to Pullman as they attempt to sweep the No. 40 Washington State Cougars in their season series.
The Cougars are coming off a 6-1 victory over San Diego and looking to upset the Ducks and avenge their 5-2 loss in Eugene last month.
Currently, Washington St. doesn’t have any athletes in the national rankings, but is led by junior Lorena Arias, who was ranked No. 77 in the preseason polls. Nagle defeated Arias in straight sets the last time the Ducks battled the Cougars.
The Ducks are counting on strong doubles play to give them an edge early.
“Winning the doubles point is big for momentum,” Schyllander said.
Lately, the Ducks have struggled with taking two of the three doubles matches to earn that crucial point. They haven’t won the doubles point since the win over Washington State.
The No. 64 men’s team is on a break from competition and will resume March 25 against California-Riverside and San Francisco. Duck sophomore Manuel Kost, No. 104 nationally, moved back into the rankings this week after starting out the season at No. 64.