Oregon tennis to face tough Arizona teams
■ MfcN: Oregon s leading
player returns to court after
being sidelined with an injury
By Joel Hood
Freelance Sports Reporter
When you’re one of the second
tier men’s tennis teams in the Pa
cific-10 Conference, the confer
ence schedule is less about
competition and more about sur
vival. With four schools currently
ranked among the nation’s top 20
and four more in the top 50, Ore
gon’s pathway to a conference ti
tle could hit a few snags.
The Ducks (2-1 overall, 0-1 Pac
10) can pull themselves back into
the race with road wins over 17th
ranked Arizona on Friday and
Arizona State on Sunday.
“Arizona is one of the best
teams in the country, and they al
ways play tough at home," head
coach Chris Russell said. “We’re
going to try to take that [their
home court advantage] away this
weekend.”
Despite a loss to Washington in
the conference opener on Jan. 17,
Oregon coaches remain confi
dent, in part because Oregon will
be at full strength this weekend
for the first time all season.
“We played Washington real
tough and were in almost every
match," Russell said. “It’s going to
help us having our No. 1 guy
(Dougal Williams) back.”
Williams, a senior, is back after
an injury sidelined him for the
team s hrst
three matches
of the season.
Williams will
play in the No.
1 spot in singles
and pair with
junior Carlos
Navarro on the No. 1 doubles
team.
“Williams is an important guy
for us to have out there,” Russell
said. “We’re a lot better team,
we’re a lot deeper. He raises the
level of performance for this team
— he also raises the level of ex
(£
Arizona is one of the best teams
in the country, and they always
play tough at home. We’re going
to try to take that [their home
court advantage] away this
weekend.
— Chris Russell
head coach
-39
pectations.”
Oregon will return home next
weekend for matches against Port
land on Feb. 14 and UC Santa Bar
bara on Feb. 16.
Rugby team to battle for respect in Northwest
■ TOURNAMENT: The Oregon club
rugby team will face the top teams in
the Northwest this weekend
By Alex Pond
Freelance Sports Reporter
Looking to establish itself as one of the elite
teams in the Northwest, the Oregon club rug
by team will compete in the Pacific North
west Rugby Tournament on Saturday in Port
land.
“This tournament is critical because the
outcome determines our standing in the
Northwest,” said student coordinator Alex
Sroka.
The round robin tournament features Ore
gon State, Washington, Washington State, Vic
toria, Reed, Lewis and Clark, Evergreen and
Oregon.
With Oregon State being at the top of Pacif
ic Northwest rugby the past six seasons, Sro
ka said the Beavers are the favorite to win the
tournament.
“They are a team we real
ly want to beat,” he said.
Sroka said Victoria and
Washington will also be
teams to watch this week
end.
victoria plays top-notch rugby, he said.
“They are as good or better than [Oregon
State],
“Those three teams are the elite teams in
the Northwest right now, and we want to
shoot to the elite.”
After struggling in recent years, Sroka
thinks Oregon is now in a position to compete
with the better teams.
“We’ve come a long way,” he said. “Our
ffi
We’ve come a long way,” he said. “Our
forwards are big and strong and match up
with pretty much any of the scrums in the
Northwest. Our back line also has come a
long way. We have experienced players at
every position.
— Alex Sroka
student coordinator
-93
forwards are big and strong and match up
with pretty much any of the scrums in the
Northwest. Our back line also has come a
long way. We have experienced players at
every position.”
Hockey will celebrate playoff berth against Idaho
■ CLUB SPORTS: Oregon
hosts a two-game series
against Idaho as a final tune
up for the Pac-8 Tournament
later this month
By Alex Pond
Freelance Sports Reporter
The Oregon Club hockey team
heads into a two-game series
against Idaho this weekend, on an
emotional high after learning this
week that it has qualified for the
Pacific-8 hockey conference tour
nament.
"I am so happy,” assistant cap
tain Robert Wasson said. “Last
year, we were 7-17-2. We’ve really
turned it around and have a
chance to go 17-6-1 if we win both
games against Idaho, which
would be a total flip-flop from last
year.”
Right now, though, the Ducks
are 15-6-1 with reason to be con
fident against the Vandals. Ore
gon beat Idaho 7-3 on Nov. 2 in
Spokane.
“They’re kind of a rag-tag
team,” Wasson said. “They play
kind of brutal, with lots of sticks
and elbows.”
Oregon will be using these
games, which are at 10 p.m. Fri
day and Saturday at the Lane
County Ice Arena, as a tune-up for
the Pac-8 tournament on Feb. 22
and 23 at Disney Ice in Anaheim,
Cal.
Although the Ducks felt confi
dent they would make the tourna
ment, it wasn’t official until
Wednesday, when the conference
announced the top four teams
based on a complicated ranking
system.
Stanford was ranked first with
a Pac-8 record of 9-4, followed by
California (7-6-2), Oregon (7-5-1)
and Southern
Cal (8-6).
Oregon will
play Cal in the
first game of the
tournament, fol
lowed by Stan
ford vs. Southern Cal. The win
ners will meet for the
championship the following day.
Wasson said the Ducks defi
nitely deserve to be in the tourna
ment and will be a force to be
reckoned with.
“The guys have worked so
hard, put so much sweat and
money into this team,” he said.
“We’ve got a really good chance of
winning the tournament. ”
Making the Pac-8 tournament is
a compliment to a program that
has been building in recent years,
and the impact should last be
yond this season.
“Just being there is great expo
sure,” Wasson said. “Being in the
Pac-8 [tournament] makes us one
of the top four teams in the west.
“I feel great about a team that
grew from basically a recreational
team about six years ago, to a team
that is this school’s equivalent of
a varsity hockey team.”
While it’s great to be there,
Wasson made it clear that the
Ducks aren’t satisfied with just
making an appearance.
“The guys are excited, and we
will take the whole team down,”
he said. “But we want to bring
back a trophy.”
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