Ducks to Open Pac-12 Slate This Weekend
03/09/16 | Women's Tennis
EUGENE – The Oregon women's tennis team opens its Pac-12 slate this weekend when it hosts Washington State and Washington. The Ducks (8-2) will take on Washington State at the Student Tennis Center on Friday at 1:30 p.m., before a bout with the Huskies on Sunday at 1 p.m.
ABOUT THE DUCKS
The Ducks enter the weekend with an 8-2 record and winners of six straight after a 7-0 sweep of Boise State last Sunday. The Ducks are ranked 36th in the latest ITA team rankings. Newcomers Shweta Sangwan and Kennan Johnson teamed up to make their first appearance in the ITA doubles rankings this week at No. 33. The duo has posted a 9-2 mark while competing together. Sangwan leads the Ducks in singles wins this season with a 16-5 record. The freshman has won six-straight matches competing in the No. 3 and 4 positions, and 13 of her last 15 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 won its sixth-straight match in its return to the Student Tennis Center Sunday, sweeping Boise State, 7-0.
The Ducks (8-2) controlled the doubles point to open the match. Nia Rose and Alyssa Tobita picked up the first win of the day with a 6-3 triumph over Hanna Kantenwein and Milena Toseva on court two to move to 7-2 as a tandem this season and 5-1 in dual action. Oregon's Kennan Johnson and Shweta Sangwan dropped the Bronco tandem of Megan LaLone and Naomi de Hart, 6-2, on No. 1 to clinch the point for the Ducks. The dynamic Duck duo has been a force for Oregon in doubles this season, winning all five of its dual matches and nine of its last 11 overall.
Much like in doubles, the Broncos could find no answer for the Ducks in singles play. Tobita continued her hot streak, winning her eighth straight in a 6-1, 6-0 drubbing of Boise State's Bobbi Oshiro. Tobita is an impressive 13-5 overall this season and 8-0 in dual matches. Sangwan extended her own win streak with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Milena Toseva in the fourth spot to win her team-high 16th match of her freshman season. Sangwan boasts a six-match winning streak. Johnson clinched the match for the Ducks, downing Hanna Kantenwein, 6-2, 6-2, in the top singles position.
Wins from Christi Woodson, Nia Rose and Daniela Nasser completed the Ducks' first clean sweep of the season. Woodson and Rose posted straight-set wins, while Nasser won in a third set thriller. Woodson downed LaLone, 6-3, 6-1 on No. 5 to extend the Oregon lead to five. After easily taking her first set, 6-0, Rose was pushed in the second, trailing 5-4 to Teal Vosburgh. The Duck sophomore won three-straight games, including a break in the 11th game of the set to take a 6-5 lead, and won the match, 6-0, 7-5.
Nasser, matched up with Boise State's Arianna Paules Aldrey on No. 6, was forced into a 10-game super tiebreaker to decide the match after Paules Aldrey snatched a tight 7-5 second set. Paules Aldrey led most of the match, and held match point with a 9-7 lead over the Oregon freshman. Nasser was relentless in the final four points, rallying to win the tiebreaker, 11-9, and the match, 6-3, 5-7, 11-9.
DUCKS IN THE RANKINGS
The Oregon women's tennis team appeared at No. 36 in the latest set of team rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday. Sophomore Kennan Johnson and freshman Shweta Sangwan made their first appearance in the doubles poll at No. 33.
Johnson and Sangwan have posted a 9-2 record competing primarily in the No. 1 singles position for the Ducks. The pair is a perfect 5-0 in dual action so far this season.
CASING THE COUGARS
Washington State enters the weekend with a 13-3 record after dropping a couple of matches at UCLA and USC last weekend. The Cougars opened the season 12-0, but have lost three of their last four. Donika Bashota leads the Cougars with a 31-4 overall record in singles play and a 14-2 dual mark. Barbora Michalkova and Aneta Miksovska lead Washington State in doubles wins with 15 overall. Head coach Lisa Hart is in her 13th year at the helm of the Cougar tennis program, and is assisted by second-year assistant coach Robin Cambier.
EYEING THE HUSKIES
Washington enters Sunday's match at the Student Tennis Center with an 8-5 record following two 5-2 losses at the hands of the Los Angeles schools last weekend. The Huskies have lost five-straight in a stretch where they've faced a number of top opponents on the road including No. 13 Oklahoma State, No. 14 Wichita State and No. 7 Texas Tech. UW is led in singles by No. 105 Stacey Fung, who has tallied a 19-6 overall record so far this season. Tami Grende and Miki Kobayashi team up to rank No. 33 in the ITA doubles rankings with a 7-2 mark. Washington is led by second-year head coach Robin Stephenson and first-year assistant coach Georgia Munns.
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. 1), Stanford (No. 23) and UCLA (No. 25) 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 has spent much of the 2016 season on the road, with 10 of their 12 non-conference dual matches away from home. Oregon winds down its non-conference slate in April with a weekend stint at Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount.
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 8-0 mark in dual matches so far this spring. The Mililani, Hawaii, native is 13-5 overall in singles this season.
DOUBLES HOT STREAK
The Ducks have won five-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 are7-0 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 (5-0 in duals) and Tobita/Rose (5-1 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 (13) and Oregon newcomers Shweta Sangwan (16), Kennan Johnson (14) and Daniela Nasser (11) 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.
Players Mentioned
