Ducks Set For Big Test At ITA Kick-Off Weekend

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon women's tennis team continues its five-match road trip in Malibu this weekend, taking part in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Hosted by Pepperdine, the Ducks will play two matches at the small dual tournament starting with Rice on Saturday, Jan. 27.

Depending on the results of the first match, UO will go on to face either Maryland or No. 6 Pepperdine Sunday. If UO can win both dual matches this weekend, it will qualify for the 2018 ITA National Team Indoor Championship hosted by Wisconsin, Feb. 9-12.

MATCH #3 - Oregon (2-0) vs. Rice (1-0)
Saturday, Jan. 27 | 1 p.m.
Malibu, Calif. | Ralph Strauss Tennis Center
Live Stats: pepperdinewaves.com

MATCH #4 - Oregon (2-0) vs. #6 Pepperdine (0-0) or Maryland (1-0)
Saturday, Jan. 27 | 1 p.m.
Malibu, Calif. | Ralph Strauss Tennis Center
Live Stats: pepperdinewaves.com

DUCKS 2-0 FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2014
Oregon recorded back-to-back wins last weekend to open the year 2-0 for the first time under head coach Alison Silverio. In their season opener against Portland, the Ducks got off on the right foot securing a 5-2 victory over the Pilots. During the match ,senior Alyssa Tobita recorded her first career win at the No. 1 spot, downing UP's Jelena Lukic, 6-1, 6-0. Playing in her first dual meet as a Duck, freshman Paiton Wagner also shined, clinching both the doubles point and the match for UO. In doubles, Wagner and partner Rifanty Kahfiani picked up a 6-1 decision at the No. 3 spot. Wagner followed that up with a 6-3, 6-1 win at the No. 6 position to clinch the win for UO 4-0.

In the Ducks' second match of the weekend, UO opened a five-match road trip with a 6-1 win at San Diego. Sophomore Julia Eshet made her return to the Ducks' lineup winning her first career match at the No. 1 spot with a three-set thriller, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, over Nicole Anderson. Junior Daniela Nasser also survived a crazy three-set match of her own, her second of the year already, rallying to defeat Gemma Garcia, 2-6, 7-5, 6-0. UO's young talent was on display once again as freshman Julia Lilien recorded her first win at Oregon, holding off Carolin Nonnenmacher, 7-5, 7-6(3), at the No. 6 spot.

CLIMBING THE LADDER
Despite only playing two matches so far this season, senior Alyssa Tobita has already climbed up a spot on both the UO career singles and doubles wins lists. Tobita finished the first weekend of the 2018 spring season undefeated in both singles and doubles play. With her two wins, the Mililani, Hawaii native is now tied with Courtney Nagle for sixth on the career singles wins list with a 65-41 record. Tobita and partner Shweta Sangwan recorded back-to-back wins at the No.1 spot over the weekend. The duo is now tied for third, just three wins behind Tobita and fellow senior Nia Rose's mark of 37-16, with a career record of 34-10.

IN THE RANKINGS
Shweta Sangwan is currently 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 as well. 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.

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, and 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.

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 play 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. Tobita and Sangwan are 2-0 currently in the spring with a 34-10 career record when paired together, tying them for third all-time. Their .773 winning percentage is second only to the duo of Kumi Nagamoto and Cindy Grall, who finished their two-year pairing from 1988-89 with a 30-4 record (.882). Currently, the pair is ranked 17th in the nation at the start of the year; they finished last season ranked 78th.

COMING IN HOT
The Ducks entered the spring season coming off one of their most successful seasons in recent history. UO went 14-11 overall and 6-4 in the Pac-12 to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in 10 years. The Ducks' 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.

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.

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.

Up Next: Following this weekend's matches, the Ducks will travel to Georgia to take on Georgia State Saturday, Feb. 3, followed by Georgia Tech.