Ducks Set To Open 2018 Spring Season At Home Friday

EUGENE, Ore. - Coming off one of its most successful seasons in recent history, the Oregon women's tennis team has its sights set even higher with the start of the 2018 spring dual season set for this Friday at home against Portland at 1 p.m.

The Ducks head into the spring season after finishing last year 14-11 overall and 6-4 in the Pac-12 to earn their first NCAA Tournament berth in 10 years. Oregon's record was the best finish to a season since 2004-05, when they finished 17-8 and 5-6 in conference play. The women also recorded victories over USC and UCLA last year for the first time in program history.

Following Friday's season-opener, UO begins a five-match road swing traveling to San Diego to take on the Toreros Sunday at 11 a.m.

I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUAL
This is the second straight season UO and Portland will meet in the season opener, the Ducks were victorious in last year's match, 6-1. Since the 2010 season, UO is 7-1 in its season openers. During that span it has almost become a spring tradition for the Ducks and the Pioneers to square off in the opening stretch of the dual season. Since 2010, UO and Portland have faced one another five times during the first three duals of the season, with the Ducks winning all five matches. Friday's match marks the Ducks only home match in January.

COMING IN HOT
UO continued to build on its momentum from last season this past fall opening the year at the Washington Husky Invitational. As a team, the Ducks finished the invite with a 22-7 overall record in both singles and doubles play. Sophomore Julia Eshet went undefeated at the Seattle tournament ,finishing the fall slate with a team-best 8-2 singles record.

The fall season also propelled the doubles pair of Shweta Sangwan and Alyssa Tobita into the national spotlight. The duo went nearly the entire fall season without dropping a match, earning the program's first ever ITA Northwest Regional Doubles Championship. Sangwan and Tobita downed Pac-12 rivals Karla Popovic and Olivia Hauger of California in a three-set thriller, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(6), to win the championship match. With the win over the No. 11 duo, Sangwan and Tobita earned an automatic bid to the ITA Fall National Championships, UO's first-ever appearance. They would go on to win their opening match, before falling in the round of 16 to the third-ranked pair of Paige Hourigan and Kenya Jones of Georgia Tech.

SPRING SCHEDULE
The 2018 dual-match schedule is loaded with high-quality competition as 12 of the Ducks' opponents this year qualified for the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Among UO's opponents is Stanford ,who reached the NCAA Championship last season and is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. Oregon will face seven teams who are currently ranked in the top-25 heading into the dual season, three that are in the top-10. The first month of competition will be a grind for the Ducks with seven of their first nine matches on the road. On the flipside, the back end of the season favors the Ducks with nine of the final 13 matches taking place in Eugene.

NEW FACE, OLD HISTORY
The 2017-18 season brought with it a new face to the Ducks' coaching staff in assistant coach Elizabeth Lumpkin Robinson. This is Robinson's first stint as a collegiate coach after spending over five years competing in the WTA and ITF pro tennis circuits. Before turning pro, Robinson was a member of the UCLA women's tennis team for four years (2004-08) captaining the Bruins to their first ever NCAA Championship in 2008 while posting a 24-1 record in singles play. Originally from Naperville, Ill., Robinson and head coach Alison Silverio are far from strangers as the two have been on-the-court rivals dating back to their juniors' careers. In fact, during the 2007 season, it was Silverio who clinched Georgia Tech's NCAA Championship victory 4-2 over UCLA, ending Robinson and the Bruins' championship bid in the NCAA Finals.

JUST THE TWO OF US
The doubles pair of Alyssa Tobita and Shweta Sangwan will be a pair to watch this season. In their final year together, the two have already made history by winning the ITA Northwest Doubles Championship and qualifying for the ITA Fall Nationals. Due to their terrific run of form dating back to last year's 17-6 finish the Duck duo is primed to make a run for the top spot on UO's all-time doubles wins list. Heading into the spring season Tobita and Sangwan are currently 32-10 when paired together tying them for fourth all-time. Their .762 winning percentage is second only to the duo of Nagamoto and Grall who finished their two-year pairing from 1988-89 with a 30-4 record. Currently, the pair is ranked 17th in the nation at the start of the year; they finished last season ranked 78th.

IN THE RANKINGS
Shweta Sangwan will begin the season as one of six players in the country to be ranked in two different doubles pairs. Sangwan, who is ranked No. 17 with Alyssa Tobita, is ranked 52nd in the country when paired with sophomore Julia Eshet. Despite having only a career record of 3-3 together, four of Sangwan and Eshet's six matches have come against ranked pairs. The duo's only ranked win was against the No. 41 pairing of Maegan Manasse and Maya Jansen of California. Eshet and Sangwan opened the fall season at the ITA All-American Championships advancing to the round of 32 before falling to the 42nd-ranked pair from Florida Atlantic.

BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
Despite losing standout senior Marlou Kluiving, UO returns six Ducks who accounted for nearly 80 percent of the team's singles wins last season. Among those returning is sophomore Julia Eshet, who had a breakout freshman season. Eshet finished the year second on the team with a 20-10 singles record while playing the majority of the year from the No. 4 spot. Eshet also partnered with Kluiving for a team-high 19-6 doubles record. The Hollywood, Fla., native continued her fine form this past fall leading the team with an 8-2 singles record.

Alyssa Tobita and Nia Rose will look to cap off their UO careers on a high note as the only two seniors on this year's squad. Tobita has the opportunity to climb higher on both the singles and doubles all-time victories list this year. Currently, Tobita is seventh on the all-time singles list with a 63-41 career record. Just 10 wins during the upcoming season will move her into a tie for third. The Mililani, Hawaii, native also makes two appearances on the all-time doubles wins list. In addition to being tied for fourth with partner Shweta Sangwan, the two seniors are second with a career doubles record of 37-16.

The Ducks added two five-star freshman to the 2017-18 roster in Paiton Wagner and Julia Lillien. Both freshmen came to Eugene as one of the top-ranked players in their respective states. Wagner, who recorded a 4-4 singles record this fall, was the No. 2 ranked player out of Washington. Lillien, who will see her first action as a Duck this spring, is the No. 1 recruit out of Arizona.

Up Next
Following Friday's match, the Ducks will hit the road opening a five-match road trip Friday (Jan. 21), at San Diego at 11 a.m. PT.