Sports Editor.
Flank Flager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NBA:
Detroit at Golden State
6:30 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Mark McCambridge Photographer
Tight end Tim Day's late touchdown helped vault the Ducks to the win on Saturday, increasing Oregon's bowl chances.
Ducks still in hunt to go bowling
Oregon’s win over Cal gives
the Ducks better bowl chances
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Oregon's bowl hopes got a lot more
realistic after Saturday's 21-17 win over
California.
The win, combined with Arizona's vic
tory over Washington and UCLA's
blowout loss to Washington State, puts
the Ducks in prime position for a post
season bowl. And it may not even matter
if Oregon defeats either the Bruins or
Oregon State in its final two games.
"I don't even know what the bowl picture
is," Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. "I
haven't even looked at if I couldn't explain it
to you. I don't know how many games there
are, or where we're at. I do know that we
want to have a winning season, first of all.
That hinges on what we can do this week, in
my mind, because we take them one at a
time."
The Ducks are tied at fifth in the Pacific
10 Conference with Washington and Cali
fornia. Because the Huskies defeated Ore
gon earlier this season, they would head to
the Las Vegas Bowl — presumably, if noth
ing else changes — and the Ducks would
head to the Silicon Valley football Classic in
San Jose, Calif. California would likely be
left out.
"You can't (think about the bowls)," line
backer Kevin Mitchell said. "If you don't
win, you don't go. It's a matter of us getting
this win. It's just about going down (to Los
Angeles), playing hard and hoping for the
best."
Oregon visits UCLA this week before
hosting Oregon State on Nov. 22. There is a
catch, however. The Beavers visit USC on
Dec. 6, two full weeks after the Ducks' last
game of the season. It is conceivable that
Oregon won't know its postseason destina
tion — if it has one — until that game.
The catch
Overshadowed in Oregon's comeback
win Saturday was the play of wide receiver
Kyle Weatherspoon.
The freshman made an acrobatic catch,
putting the Ducks at California's 31-yard
line with a little more than four minutes left
to play. Immediately after his catch, quarter
back Kellen Clemens found a seam in the
Golden Bear defense and connected with
tight end Tim Day for 31-yard touchdown
that pulled Oregon within three.
Weatherspoon made the catch after the
ball was tipped by California linebacker
Wendell Hunter, who had been defending
Oregon wide receiver Demetrius Williams.
Weatherspoon caught the ball with his right
Turn to FOOTBALL, page 6
Swiss natives
lead UO tennis
in preseason
As fall season ends, the teams look forward
to the regular season that begins in January
Alex Tam
Sports Freelancer
An up-and-down season has characterized the year so far for
the Oregon men's tennis team.
The Ducks' goal has been to continue the development of the
team's younger players. With only one senior, the thicks experi
enced many highs and lows as the fall portion of their schedule
concluded last weekend.
"Some guys have shown very good signs of elevating their
games, but haven't made it to the level that they need to," head
coach Chris Russell said.
The Ducks are headed by three Switzerland natives: sopho
more Thomas Bieri and juniors Sven Swinnen and Manuel Kost.
Kost, ranked No. 31 in the nation, is the leader of the team but is
still seeking to play at the consistently high level he is capable of.
Kost "has played some good tennis,* Russell said. "1 le just has
n't shown the confidence to play the style widt regularity diat he
should be playing."
The emergence of Bieri and Swinnen has solidified the re
maining two of the top three spots in the lineup. Their play at
October's 1TA Regionals in Eugene was one of the high points
this season. Each reached the quarterfinals in the singles portion.
'Those are the kind of performances that we're looking for in
terms of winning and competitiveness," Russell said. "If we can
get everyone to do that, we can be successful."
The Ducks' hope to be in the top 30 in the nation and have a
shot at the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championships. According to
Russell, the lower part of the lineup after the top three will need
to step up to help reach that objective.
Women “optimistic" heading into the break
The fall portion of the women's season was highlighted by
junior Daria Panova's win at the 1TA Regionals. Panova, along
with senior Courtney Nagle, advanced to play at the 1TA Nation
als in Ann Arbor, Mich., this past weekend. The two failed, how
ever, to pick up a win as a doubles team after earning an at-large
bid to the tournament.
The Ducks are optimistic heading into nonconference play.
One concern is injuries, which took their toll on the team last
season.
"On paper, this is the best team we've had since I've been here.
We feel like we need to finish the job we started last year before
the injuries," head coach Nils Schyllander said.
The future also looks bright because freshmen Monica 1 loz de
Vila and Dominika Dieskova have impressed their coaching staff
so far in their young careers. Dieskova breezed through the first
two rounds of the ITA Northwest Regionals without losing a sin
gle game. Schyllander said that weekend that Dieskova "made a
name for herself and definitely put herself on the map."
Heading into the break, the Ducks are looking forward to
working on minimizing their errors on the court.
"I want to see them make simple and good choices," Schyl
lander said. "If we do that we can be a pretty good team because
the talent is there."
Aiex Tam is a freelance sports reporter for the Emerald.
Humboldt State,Whitman tops at Oregon tournament
Oregon’s Club ultimate Frisbee teams
can’t come away with a tournament win
Kirsten McEwen
Freelance Reporter
After practicing for literally 3ozens of hours in Ore- ^
gon's chilly and unpredictable fall weather, the men's
and women's Club ultimate Frisbee teams hosted the
Fall Ultimate Kickoff last weekend in Eugene.
The tournament, which consisted of 37 teams,
served as a fund-raiser for both men's and women's
teams. It was the first time both teams, which are
ranked in the top five nationally, competed this year.
Twenty-one men's teams entered the tournament,
and a number of teams split up into evenly skilled
squads for the sake of equal playing time.
The Oregon men entered two teams in the tourna
ment, and both made it to the quarterfinals. One
team lost to Oregon State, while the other men's team
fell to the second-place team, Humboldt State. Whit
man beat Humboldt State in the championship game.
Sixteen teams entered the tournament on the
women's side. Oregon entered two teams — one in
the "A" bracket and the other in the "B" bracket. The
Oregon "A" team lost to eventual champion Whit
man, while the team in the "B" bracket placed second
behind Humboldt State.
"This was our first opportunity to see the rookies
play in a tournament situation, and for the most part,
it was very positive," men's captain Markus Brown
said. "Most all of the rookies did great in making the
crossover from practice to competition."
After a good fall turnout of newcomers, Brown said,
" The hardest part of practice is battling the weather."
He added that spots are still available and he encour
aged new players to join.
Turn to ULTIMATE, page 6
Mark McCambridge Photographer
Women’s Club ultimate sent two teams to last weekend’s tournament, and one finished second.