Women's Tennis Goes 3-0 on California Trip

FRESNO, Calif. ? For the third time in as many days, the No. 29-ranked University of Oregon women's tennis team pulled out an important non-conference victory, defeating the Missouri Tigers, 5-2. The win marked the 12th for the Ducks ? three away from surpassing Oregon's top win total (14-11, 2001-02) since the Pac-10 merged into a nine-team tennis conference in 1997.

It is rare in a match where the winning team fails to capture the doubles point, but the Ducks (12-7, 2-6) surrendered the point after shaky pairs play.

Sophomore Anna Leksinska and freshman Dominika Dieskova were the lone winners in doubles play for Oregon. The duo took down Missouri's Yelena Olshanskaya and Erika Josbena, 8-4. The win marked the 15th overall for the duo, placing them 10th all-time at Oregon for single-season doubles victories.

The Ducks came into singles play having won 12 consecutive matches. They came up short of sweeping the three-match weekend, but still managed victories in 17 of 18 matches.

No. 8-ranked Daria Panova won her 27th match and 13th dual of the season, disposing of Urska Juric, 6-2, 6-4. The win marked the sixth in a row for the Moscow, Russia, native.

At No. 2 singles, Dieskova took down the Tigers' Katka Sevcikova, 6-4, 6-3. The win (16th) moves the No. 56-ranked Dieskova into a tie for sixth on the Oregon all-time single-season wins list.

The lone defeat of the day for the Ducks came by way of Missouri's Hana Kraftova, who defeated Davina Mendiburu, 6-2, 6-0.

The story of the day ? and trip for that matter ? was Leksinska, who gave Oregon a huge boost by stepping up to the No. 4 position and picking up three victories on the trip.

"Anna (Leksinska) was our MVP this trip," Oregon coach Nils Schyllander said. "Her three wins in three days gave us a big lift with some of our injuries."

Leksinska took down Yelena Olshanskaya, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3, to clinch the match for the Ducks.

At the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, Ester Bak and Monica Hoz de Vila gave outstanding performances. Bak defeated Erika Jesbena, 6-3, 6-1, while Hoz de Vila fought her way through three sets to defeat Lucie Riskova, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

"We were forced to move some people in and out of positions today," Schyllander said. "Monica (Hoz de Vila) came up huge for us after finding out she was playing two minutes before singles. I am proud as I have ever been about this team and the way they performed."

Oregon takes a much-needed break before hitting the road to San Diego, Calif., where they will play Tulsa (April 2, 11 a.m.), San Diego State (April 3, Noon), and San Diego (April 5, 1:30 p.m.).

No. 29 Oregon 5, Missouri 2

Fresno, Calif.

March 23

Doubles

1. Juric/Sevcikova (UM) def. Panova/Mendiburu (UO) 8-3

2. Leksinska/Dieskova (UO) def. Olshanskaya/Josbena (UM) 8-4

3. Kraftova/Ruskova (UM) def. Marshall/Bak (UO) 8-6

Singles

1. (8) Daria Panova (UO) def. Urska Juric (UM) 6-2, 6-1

2. (56) Dominika Dieskova (UO) def. Katka Sevcikova (UM) 6-4, 6-3

3. Hana Kraftova (UM) def. Davina Mendiburu (UO) 6-2, 6-0

4. Anna Leksinska (UO) def. Yelena Olshanskaya (UM) 6-7, 6-2, 6-3