Tennis Tangles With Lobos in First-Round Matchup
EUGENE, Ore. ? The University of Oregon women’s tennis team will face off against No. 31 New Mexico in the opening round of the NCAA Team Championships in Seattle, Wash., Saturday at 10 a.m. The winner will face the winner of host No. 8 Washington and Fairfield on Sunday. The No. 32 Ducks are making their fifth postseason appearance in eight years.
Scouting New Mexico ? The Lobos are 20-4 on the season. They finished the Mountain West Conference season 9-1, losing to No. 22 BYU, 4-3, in the championship of the conference tournament. The Lobos are led by No. 74 Maja Kovacek, who is 21-11 on the season. She was recently named MWC Player of the Year. Backing up Kovacek is Iva Gersic who is ranked No. 111. She is 27-8 on the year.
New Mexico Strengths ? The strength of the Lobos squad lies in its doubles play. Kovacek teams with Sandy Lukowski in doubles where they are 30-7 on the season and ranked No. 8 nationally. The top three doubles teams for New Mexico are a combined 90-17.
Scouting Oregon ? The Ducks are 16-8 on the season, finishing tied for seventh in Pacific-10 Conference play. Oregon closed out the season by winning seven of eight ? the last four by a score of 4-3. The Ducks are led by No. 12 Daria Panova who is 31-12 on the season. Panova won the Pac-10 Indoor title earlier this year and received first team All-Pac-10 honors and an NCAA Individual Championship berth for the second consecutive year. Following Panova in the lineup is freshman Dominika Dieskova, who was 20-14 on the season. No. 71 Dieskova also received a bid to the NCAA Individual Championships. Oregon, as a team, was 59-39 in doubles play.
Oregon Strengths ? The Ducks are a very balanced squad. All six singles positions and three doubles positions boast .500 or better records. The Ducks strength of schedule has also been a plus. Oregon played six teams in the current top 15 and 11 teams in the top 50. Experience should also play a vital role. The Ducks singles lineup boasts four upperclassmen. Senior Courtney Nagle and junior Daria Panova participated on the 2001-02 squad that reached the second round of the NCAA Team Championships.
NCAA First and Second Rounds
Quillian Stadium at Seattle, Wash.
Host - University of Washington
Saturday, May 15 (All times Pacific)
Match 1 New Mexico vs. Oregon, 10 a.m.
Match 2 Washington vs. Fairfield, 2 p.m.
Sunday, May 16
Match 3 Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 12 p.m.
