Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, February 06, 2004, Page 8, Image 8

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Struggling Pilots start off
weekend for Oregon tennis
The Oregon women’s tennis
team takes on Portland today
By Alex Tam
Freelance Reporter
One week after the Oregon men
swept their three opponents in four
days, the women now have their
chance to show what they are made
- of.
DUCK The Ducks
TFNNIQ (3*° overa11)
i ciimo will try to
keep their un
defeated home streak alive in a
three-matches-in-three-days stretch,
including two against nationally
ranked teams.
The women will begin play today
as they host struggling Portland (0-3
overall) at 9 a.m. and streaking No. 61
Boise State (3-1 overall) at 6 p.m. in
the Student Tennis Center. The Ducks
will later host 39th-ranked Minnesota
(0-2) at 11 a.m. Sunday.
The women so far have started off
well in each dual match by sweeping
the three doubles matches to earn the
first point. The Ducks have a perfect
doubles record at 9-0 and are 21-11
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overall, which includes the fall season.
Head coach Nils Schyllander said
he wants to see that success contin
ue into the weekend against a tough
Boise State squad.
"Our doubles play was definitely
the highlight of (last weekend),"
Schyllander said. "In (Boise State),
"(The Ducks) are very
deep and talented at
every singles position
and they play incredible
doubles. I am sure they
will continue to move up
(in the rankings)."
Mark Tichenor
Boise State head coach
we are facing our stiffest challenge
so far. They are well coached and a
very dangerous team with lots of
firepower."
Boise State has won three straight
dual matches in decisive 7-0 victo
ries after losing their season opener
to Brigham Young. Broncos head
coach Mark Tichenor said his team
is ready for the challenge and is fully
aware of the potential the Ducks
have shown so far in the season.
"They are very deep and talented
at every singles position and they
play incredible doubles," Tichenor
said. "I am sure they will continue to
move up (in the rankings)."
The Broncos are headed by senior
Jemima Hayward, who is 3-0 in sin
gles this year and was named the
Western Athletic Conference
women's tennis Player of the Week
after last weekend. Tichenor said the
No. 1 singles match-up between
Hayward and Oregon junior Daria
Panova, who is ranked No. 8 in the
country, will be a true test for his
best player.
"(Panova) has to be considered
one of the top five players in the
country right now," Tichenor said.
"It will be a monumental challenge
for our number one player."
Minnesota has not played well
this year after losing its first two dual
matches to Rice and Georgia Tech.
The Golden Gophers, however, are
coming off a season that saw them
finish at No. 29 in the country and
have a share of the Big Ten Confer
ence regular season championship.
The 26th-ranked doubles team,
composed of junior Angela Buergis
and sophomore Nischela Reddy,
headlines the Minnesota women's
squad. They will likely face the No.
18 doubles team of Panova and sen
ior Courtney Nagle.
Schyllander said the depth of his
team will be key as each player will
need to keep up the consistency they
have showed thus far.
"We need to be ready and keep
playing our game and focus on the
little things that made us successful
so far." Schyllander said. "I also
think our depth will play a big part
in the three-match weekend."
Alex Tam is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.
SPORTS BRIEF
Softball opens season today
in Florida
The No. 13 Oregon women's soft
ball team travels to the land of sun
and sand in Miami to kick off the
Ducks' 2004 campaign at the Flori
da International Tournament.
Oregon will face No. 10 Georgia
in the first game at 11 a.m. today.
The Ducks also play Florida Interna
tional. Saturday they play Florida At
lantic and Iowa State.
"This is our first chance to really
see the team in an incredibly com
petitive environment," head coach
Kathy Arendsen said. "Obviously,
we're going there to win and that's
our intent, but just as importantly,
it's our chance to find out what our
identity is."
In her second year as Oregon
coach, Arendsen has 11 returning
players, including three seniors,
from last season's team that finished
one win from a berth in the
Women's College World Series.
One returning player missing
from Oregon's lineup this weekend
is pitcher Amy Harris. The sopho
more, Oregon's all-time single-sea
son strikeout leader, injured her
wrist in September. Arendsen ex
pects Harris to pitch some innings
r
at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament
next week.
Three pitchers are ready to go to
day for the Ducks. Senior Anissa
Meashintubby, who ranks seventh
all-time for Oregon with seven ca
reer shutouts, leads Oregon's pitch
ing rotation. Junior transfer Ani Ny
hus and junior Lindsey Kontra join
Meashintubby in the circle.
Oregon's first opponent today,
Georgia, will be out for vengeance.
Last year, an unranked Oregon
squad upset then-No. 12 Georgia 3
2 in 10 innings.
This year, Arendsen and her club
realize they are a marked team with
their No. 13 ranking and the unpre
dicted run they made in the 2003
season. Arendsen believes her team
will be able to continue on last sea
son's strong finish.
"We've got to score runs, we've got
to play defense and we've got to
have our pitchers hitting their spots
and staying ahead in the counts,"
Arendsen said. "If we do that, we'll
be just fine. If any of those things
don't work, it's going to make it a bit
difficult. It's not to say we won't do
fine, it's just going to make it harder.
If two or three of those things are
missing, we're in trouble."
The Ducks play in six preseason
tournaments this year.
— Mindi Rice
STUDENT GROUPS
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