Ducks Wrap Road Trip in Hawaii
02/25/16 | Women's Tennis
EUGENE – The Oregon women's tennis team will wrap up its February road trip when it heads to the Aloha State this weekend for a pair of matches against UC Santa Barbara and Hawaii.
The Ducks will open the trip with a neutral-site match against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT, before a bout with the Warriors on Sunday at 3 p.m PT. Both matches will take place at the UH Tennis Complex.
ABOUT THE DUCKS
The Ducks enter the weekend with a 5-2 record and winners of three straight after sweeping its roadtrip to Norman, Okla., last weekend. Oregon took down No. 53 Oklahoma and previously undefeated Iowa, 4-1, at the Headington Tennis Center. The Ducks are ranked 46th in the latest ITA team rankings. Newcomers Shweta Sangwan and Kennan Johnson each made their first appearances in the ITA singles rankings last week, with Johnson coming in a No. 93 and Sangwan sitting at No. 97. Sangwan leads the Ducks in singles wins this season with a 13-5 record. The freshman has won three-straight matches competing in the No. 3 position, and 10 of her last 12 going back to the fall. Second-year head coach Alison Silverio and assistant coach Tony Giannoni return four players from the 2014-15 campaign, while having added five newcomers.
LAST TIME OUT
The Oregon women's tennis team picked up two wins over No. 53 Oklahoma and Iowa in Norman this weekend. The Ducks beat Oklahoma, 4-1, on Friday before downing the Hawkeyes, 4-1 on Saturday.
After the Ducks claimed the doubles point over Oklahoma, sophomore Alyssa Tobita remained undefeated in dual action and expanded the Oregon lead to 2-0 with a straight-set 6-2, 6-1 win over Simran Sethi in the third singles position. Marlou Kluiving then tallied a 7-5, 6-1 triumph on No. 6 to put the Ducks up 3-0. Sophomore Kennan Johnson clinched the Oregon win over the Sooners, coming back from dropping her first set to win in a three-set, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 match over No. 52 Lily Miyazaki.
In the win over Iowa, the Ducks got straight-set wins in the top three singles positions after winning the doubles point to seal up the victory. Playing in the No. 1 position Johnson took down Anastasia Reimchen, 6-3, 6-4, for her 12th overall win as a Duck. After taking her first set over Dohanics in a 7-4 tiebreaker, sophomore Nia Rose finished off the Hawkeye with a 6-1 second set to take the match on No. 2. Alyssa Tobita moved to 5-0 in dual play Saturday as she knocked off Iowa's Kristen Thoms in the third singles spot.
DUCKS IN THE RANKINGS
The Oregon women's tennis team jumped 11 spots to No. 35 in the first set of computer rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday, while sophomore Kennan Johnson leapt 17 spots to No. 76 and freshman Shweta Sangwan came in at No. 116 in the singles poll. The Ducks' team ranking is their highest since 2005.
The Ducks are winners of three straight and coming off a weekend sweep of No. 53 Oklahoma and previously undefeated Iowa in Norman, Okla., knocking off both teams 4-1. Oregon has ascended in the poll every week after the team was projected 62nd in the ITA preseason rankings on Jan. 5.
Johnson rocketed up the ITA singles rankings from No.93 to No. 76 this week. With two wins last weekend, including a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 52 Lily Mayazaki, Johnson moved to 4-0 over ranked opponents, 3-0 in dual play and 12-3 overall this season.
Sangwan sits at No. 116 in this week's singles poll, despite both of her matches this weekend going unfinished. Sangwan leads the Ducks in singles wins this season with a 13-5 record. The freshman has won three-straight matches competing in the No. 3 and 4 positions, and has found victories in 10 of her last 12 matches going back to the fall.
A LOOK AT THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara enters Saturday's tilt with the Ducks at an even 4-4 record. With triumphs over UC Davis, Loyola Marymount and San Francisco, the Gauchos are winners of three straight. UCSB is 0-3 against members of the Pac-12, losing to USC, Utah and Washington State. In singles, the Gauchos are led by Palina Dubavets, who is 2-1 in the No. 1 spot and 10-4 overall this season. Dubavets and Stefani Stojic team up to lead the Gaucho charge in doubles, posting an unblemished 6-0 mark (1-0 against ranked opponents) in the top doubles spot, with a 16-2 record overall this seaosn. Head coach Simon Thibodeau is in his fourth season at the helm of the UCSB tennis program, and is assisted by third-year assistant coach Erica Cano.
WEIGHING THE WARRIORS
Hawaii is 6-3 thus far into the 2016 season, touting wins in its last five matches against Arizona, Cal Poly, UC Riverside, San Diego State and San Diego. The Warriors are 1-3 against ranked opponents, with their lone ranked win coming over 64th-ranked Arizona in Manoa. Marina Hruba boasts an undefeated 11-0 overall singles record for Hawaii this season and an 8-0 mark in dual action, competing in each of the top four spots. Tenth-year head coach Jun Hernandez leads Hawaii, along with assistant coach Carter Lam and volunteer coach Saverio Mennella.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Ducks will be well-tested heading into Pac-12 play in March, with eight of their 12 non-conference opponents appearing in the latest ITA team rankings. Texas Tech (No. 8) currently holds a top-10 ranking. The road doesn't get any easier for the Ducks come conference play, with the Pac-12 looking to be one of the strongest conferences in the country once again. Nine of the 11 teams in the conference hold national rankings with California (No. 1), Stanford (No. 16), Washington (No. 19) and Arizona State (No. 24) currently in the top 25.
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 the season on the road, with 10 of their 12 non-conference dual matches away from home. Oregon will host Boise State on March 5 for its only remaining non-conference home match.
YOUNG GUNS
The 2015-16 Oregon women's tennis roster features five newcomers, including four freshmen. The Ducks' new additions have started the season strong, combining for a 43-24 (.642) record through the fall and early spring.
TEN-WIN DUCKS
Junior Marlou Kluiving (12), sophomore Alyssa Tobita (10) and Oregon newcomers Shweta Sangwan (13) and Kennan Johnson (12) are already on their way to a stellar campaign, having already reached the 10-win mark this season. Freshman Daniela Nasser sits only one win away from becoming the fifth Duck to reach the 10-win mark.
KILLER KLUIVING
After posting a monstrous sophomore campaign in 2015, owning a 23-9 overall record in singles play to tie Katie Glyn and Pavlina Smatova for seventh on the all-time single-season singles wins list, junior Marlou Kluiving is on her way to another stelar season. After a 12-8 start to her junior season, Kluiving is currently Oregon's active leader in singles wins with 39.
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 the Ducks' trip to Hawaii, the team will return home to the Student Tennis Center for the first time in over a month to host Boise State on Sunday, March 6 at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
