Women's Tennis Poised To Finish With A Flourish Under New Staff
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Victories in the first year under a new coach tend to be incremental, if still significant. Signs of a change in culture, the embracing of a new direction for a program.
For the Oregon women's tennis team under Alison Silverio this season, there have been plenty of those. With their succession of small steps in the right direction, though, the Ducks have put themselves in position to finish the regular season with a great leap forward.
The Ducks play at Washington on Friday, starting with doubles at 2:30 p.m. PT followed by singles play which will be televised by Pac-12 Networks. Oregon has won three conference matches in Silverio's first season, the first time that's been done by the Ducks since 2008. On Friday the Ducks (9-10, 3-6) try for their fourth Pac-12 win of the spring.
Winning in Seattle would require an upset; UW is ranked No. 47 and playing at home, while Oregon is No. 57. But an inspired performance would give the Ducks a .500 record entering their regular-season finale, Sunday against Idaho at 11 a.m. And it would keep alive Oregon's hopes of making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007.
"It's exciting at the end of the season to be playing your best, and being able to peak," said Silverio, tournament MVP for the 2007 NCAA title team from Georgia Tech, where she worked as an assistant before coming to Eugene. "Through my career as a player and also as a coach, the best teams are able to peak at the end of the season when their best performances are needed. And our best performances are going to be needed this weekend."
That the Ducks are even in position to think about postseason play speaks to the job done by Silverio and her assistant, Tony Giannoni. Oregon finished with a winning record just two of the previous eight seasons, but the Ducks have a chance to finish their regular season one match over .500 by winning twice this weekend.
Oregon brings momentum into the weekend, owing to Sunday's 4-3 victory over No. 45 Arizona at home. That ended a five-match losing streak, all to top-25 teams, four of which were in the top 10.
"We've certainly had our share of adversity, and up and downs," Silverio said. "And I think the way we've handled them is, we want to embrace those challenges — really hit the adversity head on."
The Ducks' ability to weather the transition year has been fueled by some talented underclassmen. Sophomore Marlou Kluiving has 22 singles victories this year, in the top-10 of the program's history for a single season.
The doubles tandem of freshmen Nia Rose and Alyssa Tobita has 23 wins, tied for second-most in UO history. They've helped the Ducks earn a national ranking seven weeks straight, the first time that's happened at Oregon in five years.
Silverio has also benefitted from the leadership of seniors Sofia Hager and Nicole Long, who will be honored Sunday during the home finale against Idaho.
"I think it's been a great combination of passion from the young ones and desire to develop, and then also our seniors and veterans have that experience," Silverio said. "When you combine passion with experience, you're certainly going to have a recipe for success."
A turning point in Oregon's season, Silverio said, came March 14, when the Ducks lost a 4-3 heartbreaker at No. 52 BYU. That might have been a crushing precursor to the start of conference play; instead, Long rallied her teammates after the match, and the Ducks went on to split the opening weekend in the Pac-12 by winning at Colorado.
"She said, essentially, I wouldn't want to be in this situation with any other team, with anyone else," Silverio said. "I think that was well said at the right moment, that, hey, I believe in this team, I believe in what we're doing and I believe in the culture the coaches are moving forward with."
Silverio said she and Giannoni have made a point of being available to players, to address issues on and off the court. They've earned buy-in from the team by preaching that, as she put it, "we're here for you not only in the battle on the tennis court, but the battle of life."
That buy-in has put the Ducks in position to finish with a flourish this weekend, in Seattle on Friday and back at home against Idaho. In a season of steady progress, Silverio and her Oregon women's tennis team hope to unleash a powerful finishing kick.
