No. 77 Markus Schiller and the Ducks Head to Arizona
EUGENE, -- The University of Oregon men’s tennis team will be on the road again as they head to the state of Arizona for a pair of matches. First up for the Ducks will be a trip to Tucson, to square off with the Wildcats of Arizona, with the match beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The Ducks follow that with a trip up the road to Phoenix, where they will take on the Arizona State Sun Devils, with action set to begin at 10 a.m.
“This is another opportunity to face a pair of highly ranked teams, Arizona is currently 39th in the nation and ASU is 51st,” assistant coach Armando Espinosa said. “We have competed well against teams of this caliber recently and hopefully we can capitalize and win a match this weekend.”
The Ducks are currently 6-12 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-10. Last weekend the Ducks suffered a pair of losses at California (7-0) and Stanford (5-1).
Markus Schiller had some success in the loss to Stanford as he defeated Matt Bruch, a talented freshman for the Cardinal; Bruch was ranked at No. 18 heading into the match, he is currently ranked 14.
“Schiller is currently ranked No. 77 nationally and will have a chance to move up as he is facing two ranked opponents, if he wins it will give him a chance to move up in the rankings,” Espinosa said. “Both of his projected opponents Roger Matalonga of Arizona and Jonathan Kinsella of ASU are highly ranked.”
A rash of injuries has hampered the Ducks of late as Thomas Bieri, Mike Myrhed and Arron Spencer have all seen time on the sidelines, with various injuries.
Arizona is currently 10-6 overall and 1-1 in Pac-10 play. The Wildcats defeated USC for just the second time in 71 attempts last weekend.
The Ducks are currently on the wrong end of a 9-2 series ledger with the Wildcats, but won last season’s match, 5-2, in Eugene.
Arizona State is currently 7-10 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-10. The Sun Devils recently broke a five-match losing streak with a 4-3 defeat of USC.
News and results will be available on goducks.com, the University of Oregon’s official athletic website.
