Freshman Alyssa Tobita’s first impression of her current doubles partner, freshman Nia Rose, was less than ideal. It was the women’s tennis team’s first practice of the year and Rose was already late.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Who is this girl on our team? She can’t even make the first practice on time,’” Tobita said, laughing.
In its first dual meet of the season, the Oregon women’s tennis team traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to play the UNLV Lady Rebels. The Ducks dominated the Lady Rebels with a 6-1 win at the Fertitta Tennis Complex, an improvement over their 4-1 loss to them last season.
It was the second day of the Pac-12 Championships in Ojai, Calif. and the women’s tennis team changed their focus from yesterday’s singles play to today’s doubles.
Representing Oregon in the doubles championship draw, Lana Buttner and Nicole Long faced California’s No. 4-seeded Lynn Chi and Anett Schutting in the round of 16. The Buttner-Long duo, which wasn’t a typical combination during the regular season, lost 8-4.
In the first day of the women’s tennis Pac-12 championships, the Oregon women’s tennis team had six girls competing. All except one fell in the round of 32 for their respective division.
While the women’s team took on the Cougars in Pullman, Wash., the men’s team had a rematch against Washington in Seattle. The Huskies (11-12, 2-5) claimed a 4-3 win over the Ducks (15-8, 1-6 Pac-12).
Although the Ducks won the doubles point with victories from the 64th-ranked duo of Robin Cambier and Kevin Farin and the pair of Daniel Sardu and Jayson Amos in the No. 1 and No. 3 spots respectively, the Huskies’ dominant performance in singles is what pulled them ahead of Oregon.
After a non-conference match against Idaho, the Oregon women’s tennis team headed to Pullman, Wash., for its final match of the regular season. There the Ducks faced off against the No. 45 Washington State Cougars and lost 4-2.
After losing 4-0 to the No. 25 Arizona State, the Ducks moved down south to play the University of Arizona (14-1, 3-0 Pac-12) for their second of nine road games. Oregon fell 4-0 to the Wildcats, making them 0-4 on the road this season, excluding neutral matches.