Ducks Kick Off Husky Invite Friday

EUGENE, Ore. – After sending more than half of its roster to the ITA Women's All-American Championships last week, the Oregon women's tennis team will play in its first full team tournament of the fall at the Washington Husky Invitational beginning Friday.

The four team field will include the Ducks, Portland, Arkansas, and the host Huskies.

"It will be an exciting weekend of competing," said head coach Alison Silverio. "The first team event always brings on special experiences and little victories. Each match will be an opportunity for growth."

Tournament play will open with doubles action Friday at 10 a.m. PT as the Ducks look to continue their fine play from the ITA All-Americans.

The No. 36 ranked duo of junior Shweta Sangwan and sophomore Julia Eshet will continue to build on their partnership after splitting their two matches at the ITA All-Americans last weekend. The pair opened qualifying play with an 8-3 victory over their Loyola Marymount opponents before falling in the second round to a duo from Florida Atlantic.

The second-round match marked only the sixth time Sangwan and Eshet have paired together as the two will continue to hone their skills as a tandem in preparation for the upcoming spring season.

The Ducks' second ranked doubles pair (No. 48) of senior Alyssa Tobita and sophomore Rifanty Kahfiani had a similar result during the ITA All-Americans, opening the qualifying bracket with an 8-6 win over a pair from Iowa before falling in the second round.

In singles play, all three Ducks who participated in the All-Americans will head to Seattle.

Only Kahfiani was able to secure a win at the ITA tournament downing Kentucky's Mami Adachi 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the opening round of pre-qualifying play.

Sangwan and Tobita are both looking for their first singles wins of the fall season after being unable to walk away with a victory in qualifying play. Both Ducks showed grit pushing their ranked opponents to extra sets in each of their two matches, but could not pick up a win.

Making their first singles appearances of the fall season will be senior Nia Rose, junior Daniela Nasser, Eshet, and newcomer Paiton Wagner.

Nasser is the only active Duck to have earned a win the last time Oregon played in the Washington Invitational in 2015. The Tampa, Fla., native defeated Pepperdine's Danielle Feneridis 6-4, 6-2 on her way to a 6-2 fall singles record.

Rose enters her final season at UO after going 12-21 in singles play last year and 7-5 during the fall campaign.

After opening the fall season in doubles play, Eshet will play her first singles match of the year this weekend. In only her first season at UO, Eshet became one of the team leaders with a 20-10 singles record and a nearly perfect fall tournament record of 8-1.

Wagner will round out the Duck's lineup this weekend making her UO debut. The Cashmere, Wash. native came to Oregon ranked as the No. 2 player in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest out of high school.

Up Next: Following this weekend's tournament, the Ducks will take part in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships starting Thursday (Oct. 19) in Stanford, Calif.