Bay Area Teams Await Oregon
EUGENE – Pac-12 play continues for the Oregon women’s tennis team this weekend as they head to the Bay Area for a pair of ranked foes in No. 10 Stanford and No. 3 California.
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
Oregon rose to the challenge against No.1 USC and No.4 UCLA last weekend in Eugene, giving the Trojans and Bruins a fight they were not anticipating. Nia Rose toppled Giuliana Olmos, the No. 11-ranked singles player, in a three-set thriller 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 at the No. 1 singles position. Nicole Long and Marlou Kluiving both forced a third set against their counterparts – both of which were ranked. The two won their first set before dropping the second set and eventually falling in the third set.
A day later, Long and Kluiving teamed up to take down the No. 1 doubles team in country in Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips. The Oregon duo led the UCLA pair the entire match, and was ahead 5-1 at one point before upsetting the top-ranked pair 8-5. Long kept that momentum going in singles play against No. 13 Chanelle Van Nguyen at the No. 3 singles position. Long was ahead 5-1 before Van Nguyen made it 5-5 in the first set. Just like her doubles match, Long would come out on top again, this time 7-5. The senior cruised in the second set against the 13th-ranked singles player in the nation, winning 6-1.
FACING THE CARDINAL
The tough schedule continues for the Duck Women when they face off against No. 10 Stanford. The Cardinal are 11-4 so far on the season with a 4-2 mark in Pac-12 play, losing only to USC and UCLA. Ellen Tsay (#4), Taylor Davidson (#16) and Caroline Doyle (#27) all sport 20-plus wins in singles play. Davidson and Doyle are tied for the team lead at 23 wins each while Zhao is right behind them with 22. Ellen Tsay (#91), the other ranked singles player for the Cardinal is 17-6 on the year with an 11-3 mark in dual play. Krista Hardebeck rounds out the double-digit winners for Stanford.
In doubles action, Zhao and Davidson teamed up to make the No. 2 doubles pair in America after posting a 23-5 mark while Doyle and Tsay are 14th in the country. Doyle and Tsay are 19-6 on the year together with a 9-4 mark in dual action. The only other doubles team for Stanford with a win is the duo of Hardebeck and Kostas who are 5-7 on the year.
Stanford has won both home matches so far this year in Pac-12 play, defeating Colorado and Utah. The Cardinal were swept by the LA schools on the road, but returned the favor to the Arizona schools.
LOOKING AT THE GOLDEN BEARS
Checking in at No. 3 in the country, California rocks a 14-3 record in dual action and 5-1 mark in Pac-12 play. The Golden Bear’s lone loss has come at the hands of top-ranked USC. Maegan Manasse, the No. 2 singles player in the nation, leads the pack with a staggering 36-7 record in singles play and 12-4 mark in dual play. Karla Popovic (#91) trails her by just one win, coming in with a 35-7 record and 13-4 mark in dual play. Denise Starr (#43) is third on the team with 26 wins while Zsofi Susanyi (#33) and Kiara Fobikova (#22) both sport 24 wins. Lynn Chi is ranked 40th in singles play despite her 9-5 record to round out the ranked players for Cal.
The Golden Bears also have a pair of ranked doubles teams on their squad with Manasse and Starr checking in at No. 5 in the nation with a 27-8 overall record. Fabikova and Susanyi pair up to make the No. 11 doubles team in the nation with a 24-5 record. Manasse and Starr play in the No. 1 doubles position while Fabikova and Susanyi play in the No. 2 doubles position. Chi and Popovic are 5-3 at the No. 3 position, but four other pairs have also played in that position.
Cal is coming off a road sweep of the Arizona schools, beating both Arizona and Arizona State by a score of 6-1. The Golden Bears have also won nine of their last 10 matches.
MOVIN’ ON UP
The Ducks are once again ranked this week in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls, checking in at No. 62. The last time the Ducks were ranked for five-consecutive weeks was back in 2009 when UO was ranked for nine-straight weeks (Jan. 29-March 24).
KLUIVING CATCHING EYES
Marlou Kluiving is making great strides in her second season with the Ducks. The sophomore leads Oregon with a 21-4 overall mark in singles play and 13-2 in dual action at the No. 4 singles position. She finally picked up her first two losses in dual play last week against pair of powerhouse teams in No. 1 USC and No. 4 UCLA.
POWERHOUSE PAIR
Oregon’s freshmen pair of Nia Rose and Alyssa Tobita has been a force to be reckoned with for UO at the No. 1 position. The two have compiled a 22-8 doubles record with six matches remaining in the season along with the Pac-12 Tournament. Their 22 wins so far ties them for third all-time in a single-season at Oregon. Rose and Tobita are just two wins short of overtaking the former UO pair of Dominika Dieskova and Daria Panova (23-12) for No. 2 spot on the all-time doubles single-season wins list.
SILVERIO SIGNS FIRST RECRUITS
In her first signing class as head coach, Alison Silverio inked a pair of five-star recruits. Silverio first signed Daniella Nasser, who hails from Tampa, Fla. The lefty senior at Academy of Holy Names is a three-time District 10 champion in both singles and doubles as well as a regional champion.
They days later, Silverio inked her second five-star recruit in Rebekah Anderson. Anderson, a lefty like Nasser, hails from La Mirada, Calif., where she is ranked No. 14 in the state and No. 19 in the southwest region and No. 77 nationally according to Tennisrecruiting.net. The SoCal native has had plenty of experiences playing against top 50 players in USTA National events.
SILVERIO ADDS GIANNONI
Less than a month after being named the 10th head coach in Oregon women’s tennis history, Alison Silverio announced Tony Giannoni as her assistant coach. Giannoni, a Miami, Fla., native was previously at UCF before joining the Ducks. Silverio and Giannoni have known each other for a while, as they have frequently crossed paths on the recruiting trails.
While with the Knights, Giannoni helped guide them to 14 victories during the 2012-13 season – the most wins in a single season since the 1999-00 season. He also helped freshman Caroline Eberhart reach the 25-win plateau that year, the fourth-best mark in a single season at UCF.
Prior to his time with the Knights, Giannoni spent two seasons with his alma mater, Florida. As a volunteer assistant with UF, the Gators went 24-3 overall – undefeated in SEC play (11-0) – and advanced to the NCAA Final Four in his first season. UF followed up with a sweet sixteen appearance the next year before Giannoni joined UCF.
SILVERIO NAMED 10TH UO WOMEN’S TENNIS HEAD COACH
After an extensive national search, Athletics Director Rob Mullens named Alison Silverio as the 10th women’s tennis head coach at Oregon. Silverio arrived in Eugene after spending the past four seasons as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech, her alma mater. She succeeded Paul Reber who stepped down last April after compiling a 77-101 mark over eight seasons at the helm.
Following a stellar playing career that culminated in captaining the Yellow Jackets to the 2007 NCAA National Championship and earning tournament MVP accolades, Silverio has experienced continued success in the coaching ranks, starting with a two-year stint at North Carolina State, where she helped the Wolfpack to a pair of team NCAA appearances in 2008 and 2010, and assisted with bringing in the first top 25 recruiting class in program history (2010).
At Georgia Tech, she helped assemble the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation in 2012, and followed that up with the No. 6 class in 2013. Silverio tutored the top-ranked doubles team in the nation last spring as well as the ITA National Indoor doubles champions and ITA Regional doubles champions in 2013. The Yellow Jackets made NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in 2012 and 2013.
