Milestone Season Continues For Tobita In NCAA Singles Tournament

EUGENE, Ore. – Shortly after adding another accolade to her stellar senior season, Alyssa Tobita of the Oregon women's tennis team readies herself for one of the biggest tests of her collegiate career on Wednesday, the NCAA Singles Championship Tournament.

Squaring off against No. 19 Carla Touly of Florida State in the opening round at 7:30 a.m. PT, Tobita is just the fourth Duck in program history to be chosen for the tournament, and the first since 2006. But her addition to the tournament field is no surprise for those who have followed her breakout senior season.

Heading into the tournament, Tobita is 18-11 in singles play this year with a 6-10 record against ranked opponents, earning her Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Senior Player of the Year honors for the northwest region.

Congratulations to @Alyssatoebiter! After going 18-11 with six ranked wins this season, she has been named the ITA Senior Player of the Year for the northwest region! #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/SdGtb4G6pD
— Oregon Ducks WTennis (@OregonWTennis) May 22, 2018

Originally from Mililani, Hawaii, Tobita came into her senior season having played only four matches at the No. 1 position throughout her career, losing all four times. She broke through that barrier instantly, nearly blanking Portland's Jelena Lukic, 6-1, 6-0, at the top spot in UO's season opener.

The next challenge was maintaining her position at the top of Oregon's lineup.

After opening the year 4-0 in singles play, Tobita ran into a difficult stretch facing nine ranked opponents over an 11-match stretch. Tobita went 5-6 during that span, recording ranked wins over No. 49 Michaela Bayerlova of Washington State and No. 68 Rosie Cheng of William & Mary.

It was after that run when Tobita made her first appearance on the ITA singles rankings, jumping to No. 102.

After weathering the storm throughout the heart of the year, Tobita found her swing with five straight victories to close out the regular season. Following back-to-back ranked wins over No. 41 Julia Rosenqvist of Cal and No. 16 Michaela Gordon of Stanford, Tobita skyrocketed from No. 94 to No. 49 in the ITA rankings.

Currently, she is ranked No. 42 with her stellar season earning her All-Pac-12 second team honors for the second straight season.

Tobita recorded only one decision throughout the Ducks' four postseason matches, falling to then No. 14 Ena Shibahara in UO's Pac-12 tournament semifinal match against UCLA.

Third on UO's all-time singles wins list with a career record of 77-48, Tobita looks to add to her legacy by becoming the second Duck in UO history to win a match at the individual tournament. Daria Panova is the only Duck to record victories at the singles championship, advancing to the third round in 2003.