Streaking Ducks Return Home to Host Boise State
03/04/16 | Women's Tennis
EUGENE – The Oregon women's tennis team returns home this weekend to host Boise State on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Student Tennis Center. It marks the start of a five-match homestand for the Ducks.
ABOUT THE DUCKS
The Ducks enter the weekend with a 7-2 record and winners of five straight after sweeping their roadtrip to Hawaii last weekend. Oregon dropped No. 64 Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara to finish off its second consecutive weekend sweep. The Ducks are ranked 28th in the latest ITA team rankings. Newcomers Shweta Sangwan and Kennan Johnson each appear in the ITA singles rankings, with Johnson coming in a No. 76 and Sangwan sitting at No. 116. Sangwan leads the Ducks in singles wins this season with a 15-5 record. The freshman has won five-straight matches competing in the No. 3 position, and 12 of her last 14 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 28th-ranked women's tennis team picked up a pair of wins last weekend over UC Santa Barbara and Hawaii in Manoa, Hawaii.
The Ducks took down UC Santa Barbara, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon, thanks to consecutive wins from Alyssa Tobita, Kennan Johnson and Christi Woodson to clinch the match before the Gauchos could get on the board. Woodson ensured the Oregon victory with a tough three-set, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 triumph over Gilbertson on No. 5.
Oregon dropped Hawaii, 4-3, on Sunday to notch its fifth-straight win. The Ducks took singles, but the Warriors took a 2-1 lead early on in singles with wins on courts one and two. Tobita extended her string of success in singles, defeating Gealer, 6-2, 6-3, to tie the match at two. Freshman Shweta Sangwan put the Ducks a point away from the win, downing Pribylova, 6-4, 6-2 for her fifth straight and team-leading 15th overall win of the season.
After Hawaii tied the match yet again with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win over Christi Woodson on No. 5, it was Daniela Nasser that sealed the win for the Ducks.
DUCKS IN THE RANKINGS
The Oregon women's tennis team jumped seven spots to No. 28 in the latest set of team rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday. 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 BRONCOS
Boise State enters the weekend with a 4-3 record following a pair of wins over Idaho State and South Dakota last weekend. The Broncos are 0-2 against members of the Pac-12 Conference, falling in a 7-0 sweep at Colorado in January before dropping a 6-1 match at Utah last month. The Broncos are led by sixth-year head coach Beck Roghaar and second-year assistant coach Kristian Widen.
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. 5) 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. 2), Stanford (No. 20) and UCLA (No. 27) currently in the top 30.
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 this Saturday for its only remaining non-conference home match.
ALL SHE DOES IS WIN
Sophomore Alyssa Tobita has been on fire since the start of dual action in January. Tobita has posted an unscathed 7-0 mark in dual matches so far this spring. The Mililani, Hawaii, native is 12-5 overall in singles this season.
DOUBLES HOT STREAK
The Ducks have won four-straight doubles points, going back to their 4-1 win at Oklahoma in February. Doubles has proven to be a key for Oregon this season, as the Ducks are 6-0 when taking doubles so far this season, and only 1-2 when dropping the point. Much of the Ducks' success in doubles can be attributed to outstanding contributions from tandems of Johnson/Sangwan (4-0 in duals) and Tobita/Rose (4-1 in duals).
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 48-26 (.649) record through the fall and early spring.
TEN-WIN DUCKS
Junior Marlou Kluiving (12), sophomore Alyssa Tobita (12) and Oregon newcomers Shweta Sangwan (15), Kennan Johnson (13) and Daniela Nasser (10) are already on their way to a stellar campaign, having already reached the 10-win mark this season.
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 fantastic season. After a 12-9 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
Sunday's match will be the start of a five-match homestand for the Ducks. Oregon returns to the Student Tennis Center next Friday to host No. 64 Arizona at 1:30 before taking on No. 36 Arizona State on Sunday at noon in Eugene.
Players Mentioned
