Ducks Open Spring Season at Long Beach Invitational
01/13/16 | Women's Tennis
EUGENE – After a successful fall tournament season, the Oregon women's tennis team is set to open the spring this weekend at the Long Beach Invitational. The three-day tournament will be played at the Rhodes Tennis Center in Long Beach, Calif., and is scheduled to open Friday.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The Long Beach Invitational features competitors from Oregon, Cal State Northridge, Denver and host Long Beach State. A hidden dual tournament, the Ducks will face a different team in doubles and singles each day of the event. The schedule of play is listed below.
Friday
Doubles: LBSU vs Oregon
Singles: Oregon vs CSUN
Saturday
Doubles: Oregon vs CSUN
Singles: Oregon vs Denver
Sunday
Doubles: Oregon vs Denver
Singles: LBSU vs Oregon
DUCKS IN THE RANKINGS
The Oregon women's tennis team was ranked No. 62 in the first set of 2016 team rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association last week. Freshman Shweta Sangwan and sophomore Kennan Johnson are slotted at No. 59 in the latest doubles rankings.
The Ducks enter the spring dual season ranked for the first time since 2014. The ranking is Oregon's highest to begin the season since opening the spring of 2009 at No. 55.
Sangwan and Johnson sit in a three-way tie for No. 59 in the ITA doubles rankings after going 4-1 as a tandem in the fall and advancing to the semifinals of the doubles main draw at the Jack Kramer Invitational in November. Johnson makes her second appearance in the poll after coming in at No. 56 in the ITA preseason doubles rankings with teammate Marlou Kluiving. The selection marks Sangwan's first time in the rankings.
Sangwan and Johnson are ranked No. 6 in the regional doubles rankings. Johnson is ranked No. 18 in the region in singles.
EYEING THE OPPONENTS
Although no team results will be recorded at this weekend's Long Beach Invitational, it's worth noting that three of the four participating teams appear in the ITA team rankings. Long Beach State is the highest ranked of the three teams at No. 40, followed by Oregon at No. 62 and Cal State Northridge at No. 75.
Denver's Julia O'Loughlin is the lone ranked singles player competing this weekend, coming in at No. 62 in the latest ITA singles rankings. O'Loughlin and teammate Maureen Slattery are ranked 45th in the ITA doubles poll to make up the only non-Duck ranked doubles squad competing at the event.
SPOILS OF YOUTH
For the first time since the 2009-10 season, the Oregon women's tennis team will not have a “Senior Day” in 2016. This year's Oregon roster includes two juniors, three sophomores and four freshmen, but no seniors.
FROM FAR AND WIDE
The 2016 Oregon women's tennis roster is made up of players from all corners of the country and globe. The Ducks hail from five different states (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, and New York) and three different countries (India, Netherlands and the United States).
ROAD WARRIORS
The Ducks will spend much of January and February on the road, with eight of their 10 non-conference dual matches away from home. Oregon will host Idaho on Jan. 30 and Boise State on March 5 for its two non-conference home matches.
YOUNG GUNS
Newcomers Shweta Sangwan (7-4) and Kennan Johnson (6-3) both started their Oregon careers off on the right foot with big 2015 fall seasons. Sangwan won the Gray flight singles championship in her first tournament as a Duck at the WSU Invitational. In the Ducks' final appearance of the fall at the Jack Kramer Invitational, Sangwan won four matches, including a victory over then No. 36 Madison Westby of USC , to advance as far as the main draw semifinals, while Johnson advanced to the quarterfinals before colliding with Sangwan. The two teammates also paired up to go 4-1 as a tandem in the fall and open the 2016 season slotted as the 56th-ranked doubles team in the country.
POWERHOUSE PAIR
Oregon's duo of Nia Rose and Alyssa Tobita was a force to be reckoned with at the No. 1 position last season. The two compiled a 25-10 doubles record during the 2014-15 season. Their 25 wins surpassed the former Duck pair of Dominika Dieskova and Daria Panova (23-12) for the No. 2 spot on the all-time doubles single-season wins list.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Marlou Kluiving had a monstrous sophomore campaign in 2015, owning a 23-9 overall record in singles play. The 23 wins tied her with Katie Glyn and Pavlina Smatova for seventh on the all-time single-season singles wins list.
SILVERIO INKS FIVE-STAR JULIA ESHET
Oregon women's tennis head coach Alison Silverio announced the signing of five-star recruit Julia Eshet in November. A native of Hollywood, Fla., Eshet is ranked No. 5 in the state of Florida, No. 9 in the southeast region and No. 35 nationally, according to TennisRecruiting.net.
With a 25-8 overall record on the junior circuit, Eshet is 9-1 against four-star recruits, 7-4 against fellow five-star recruits and 2-2 against blue-chip recruits. In March, Eshet defeated top-seeded Tiffany Huber, 6-3, 6-0, in the finals of the Biscayne Tennis Open to take home the singles title. A week earlier, she tallied two straight-set wins to reach the finals at the Tier One Tennis Spring L6 Championships.
In the last year, Eshet has also earned singles titles at the USTA Florida Junior State Championships, the Holiday Level 6 Championships and the Broward Turkey Bowl.
LOOKING FORWARD
After their appearance at the Long Beach Invitational, the Ducks head south to Lubbock, Texas, to compete in the ITA Kickoff Weekend. On Jan. 23, Oregon faces No. 17 Texas Tech at 9 a.m. PT before returning on Jan. 24 to face either No. 30 Virginia Tech or No. 58 Illinois.
Players Mentioned
