Ducks Wrap Up 2016 Home Schedule
04/07/16 | Women's Tennis
The Oregon women's tennis team finishes up its home schedule this weekend with Pac-12 foes Colorado and No. 59 Utah. The Ducks kick off the weekend with the Buffaloes on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Student Tennis Center. The Utes roll into town on Sunday at 12 p.m. for what will be the Ducks' final home match of the season.
Free donuts will be provided for fans at Sunday's match against Utah. There will also be a raffle for Civil War baseball tickets.
ABOUT THE DUCKS
The Ducks enter the weekend with an 11-7 record and a 3-5 mark in Pac-12 play. Oregon is coming off a tough trip to the Bay Area last weekend in which the Ducks fell to a pair of top-20 opponents in No. 1 California and No. 18 Stanford last weekend. The Ducks are positioned at No. 41 in the latest ITA team rankings released on Tuesday. Freshman Shweta Sangwan leads the Ducks in singles wins this season with an 19-10 record, while Alyssa Tobita has been a force in singles as well, opening the dual season with a 12-3 record. In doubles, Tobita and sophomore Nia Rose have teamed up to win seven of their last 10 competing predominately in the No. 2 spot, making them the second-winningest tandem in program history less than two seasons into their collegiate careers. Head coach Alison Silverio and assistant coach Tony Giannoni lead the Ducks in their second season at the helm of the Oregon women's tennis program.
LAST TIME OUT
Shorthanded due to injury, the Oregon women's tennis team fell, 7-0, at No. 18 Stanford on Saturday afternoon.
As the Ducks were forced to forfeit the doubles match on No. 3, Stanford clinched the doubles point quickly after Nia Rose and Shweta Sangwan fell, 6-3, on No. 1. Marlou Kluiving and Paloma Gomez fell short as well, dropping a 6-3 match to No. 47 Caroline Lampl and Krista Hardebeck on No. 3.
In singles, Oregon fell down 3-0 automatically after forfeiting the matches on Nos. 5 and 6.
The Cardinal clinched the match when Oregon's Gomez fell, 6-0, 6-0, to Caroline Lampl on No. 4. Shortly after, No. 23 Taylor Davidson defeated Sangwan, 6-1, 6-1, on No. 2 to push the Stanford lead to 5-0.
After falling, 6-1, to No. 118 Krista Hardebeck in the first set, Marlou Kluiving battled back, taking the second, 7-5, to force a 10-point super tiebreaker. Hardebeck prevailed, 10-3, in the tiebreaker, however, handing Kluiving the loss and inflating the Stanford advantage to 6-0.
Nia Rose turned in a great effort in the top singles spot as well, fighting for a 7-5 win in her second-set tiebreaker to force a third set, and going toe to toe with No. 59 Carol Zhao in the super tiebreaker. It was 7-7 through the first 14 points, but Zhao would come up with the 6-2, 7-6(5), 10-7 win.
SPOILS OF YOUTH
In previous seasons, the Oregon women's tennis team would honor its seniors on the final home weekend of the season. For the first time since the 2009-10 season, however, the Ducks will not have a “Senior Day” in 2016. This year's Oregon roster includes two juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen, but no seniors.
BREAKING DOWN THE BUFFS
Colorado enters this weekend's tilt with the Ducks at 6-13 and 1-7 in Pac-12 play. The Buffaloes have lost six straight, the most recent losses coming at the hands of No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 USC in Boulder, Colo., last weekend. Colorado is led by Nuria Ormeno Ruiz, who is 20-11 overall this season, competing mostly in the No. 1 spot since the opening of Pac-12 play. Ormeno Ruiz and Tina Bokhua form the top doubles squad for the Buffaloes, going 4-4 in the No. 1 spot. Head coach Nicole Kenneally is in her 17th season at Colorado. Kenneally is assisted by third-year assistant coach Blake Mosley.
UTES AT A GLANCE
No. 59 Utah comes into Sunday's match in Eugene at 11-10 and 1-7 in Pac-12 play. The Utes have lost two straight, and seven straight in conference play since their 4-3 win over Arizona in their Pac-12 opener on March 11. Margo Pletcher competes in the top singles spot for the Utes, and is 5-14 overall this season. Pletcher and teammate Brianna Turley have been impressive in doubles action this season, racking up a 12-4 mark competing in the top doubles spot for the Utes. Utah is led by eighth-year head coach Mat Iandolo and 16th-year assistant coach Ruth Ann Allen.
DYNAMIC DUO
Nia Rose and Alyssa Tobita's win on in the Ducks' match against Arizona gave them 35 as a tandem for their careers, giving the Duck duo sole possession of second in the program record book for career doubles wins. Rose and Tobita currently sit 15 wins behind program leaders Dieskova and Olivos (51, 2005-07) for first place. The two sophomores are 10-4 overall this season (8-3 in dual action) to follow up a 25-10 mark together as freshmen.
FROM FAR AND WIDE
The 2016 Oregon women's tennis roster is made up of players from all corners of the country and globe. The Ducks hail from five different states (Florida, Hawaii, New Mexico, and New York) and three different countries (India, Netherlands and the United States).
ROAD WARRIORS
The Ducks has spent much of the 2016 season on the road, with 10 of their 12 non-conference dual matches away from home. Oregon winds down its non-conference slate in April with a weekend stint at Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount.
ALL SHE DOES IS WIN
Sophomore Alyssa Tobita has been on fire since the start of dual action in January. Tobita has posted an impressive 12-3 mark in dual matches so far this spring. The Mililani, Hawaii, native is 17-8 overall in singles this season, and made her first appearance of the season in the ITA singles rankings two weeks ago at No. 124.
TOBITA NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Oregon women's tennis sophomore Alyssa Tobita was named the Pac-12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week for action during the week of March 7-13, the conference announced earlier this month. Tobita came up big for the Ducks, picking up two match-clinching singles victories to extend the Ducks' win streak to eight with wins over Pac-12 foes 49th-ranked Washington and 69th-ranked Washington State. The Mililani, Hawaii, native tallied a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over 105th-ranked Stacey Fung to push the Ducks past the Huskies on Sunday. Her 6-4, 6-2 win over Barbora Michalkova of Washington State clinched the win over the Cougars Friday. Tobita also picked up a pair of triumphs in doubles with partner Nia Rose.
SILVERIO INKS FIVE-STAR JULIA ESHET
Oregon women's tennis head coach Alison Silverio announced the signing of five-star recruit Julia Eshet in November. A native of Hollywood, Fla., Eshet is ranked No. 5 in the state of Florida, No. 9 in the southeast region and No. 35 nationally, according to TennisRecruiting.net.
With a 25-8 overall record on the junior circuit, Eshet is 9-1 against four-star recruits, 7-4 against fellow five-star recruits and 2-2 against blue-chip recruits. In March, Eshet defeated top-seeded Tiffany Huber, 6-3, 6-0, in the finals of the Biscayne Tennis Open to take home the singles title. A week earlier, she tallied two straight-set wins to reach the finals at the Tier One Tennis Spring L6 Championships.
In the last year, Eshet has also earned singles titles at the USTA Florida Junior State Championships, the Holiday Level 6 Championships and the Broward Turkey Bowl.
Players Mentioned
