Last year's downfalls weigh on minds of Ducks
The Oregon men and women
hope to continue their early
season success heading
into conference play
By Alex Tam
Freelance Reporter
The current Oregon tennis teams'
terrific starts are beginning to resem
ble the starts of last year.
not want a replay of that bad luck
this season.
The Oregon men (6-1 overall)
started the 2003 season 7-1 but end
ed up losing 11 of their last 12 dual
DUCK
TENNIS
The prob
lem: Both the
men and
women fal
tered down
the stretch last
season and do
matches to finish at 8-12 overall.
The Ducks' last win before that
streak came against UC-Santa Bar
bara, which the men will play this
coming weekend in Santa Clara,
Calif. One reason for the men's
good start is the addition of sopho
more Markus Schiller, who has so
lidified the No. 3 and No. 4 posi
tions in the lineup. Schiller
transferred to Oregon from Auburn
right before the beginning of the
dual-match season and has cement
ed his position behind the top three
players, juniors Sven Swinnen and
Manuel Kost, and sophomore
Thomas Bieri.
Schiller said he is looking forward
to the start of the Pacific-10 Confer
ence season, which is coming up af
ter this weekend, but he believes he
needs to improve his play if he
wants to be successful.
"I think I definitely have to get the
intensity a little bit higher," Schiller
said. "I think I did pretty well so far.
Pac-10 is a new level. It (has) better
"Last year with Davina
out, we had a hole in the
middle of our lineup.
(Getting) her back has
been a huge part of our
success. We just need to
stay healthy and be lucky
in that way and keep
plugging away and taking
it one match at a time."
Nils SchyHander
Oregon head coach
opponents so I need to get more in
tense and play even better."
The Oregon women (8-0 overall,
2-0 Pac-10) also began last year 7-1
but subsequently won three of their
final 17 dual matches to close with
a 10-15 record in 2003.
Oregon head coach Nils Schyllan
der believes the reason for the
downfall last season was injuries, in
cluding the season-ending knee sur
gery to senior Davina Mendiburu.
However, this year the Ducks are
playing with a healthy team and are
beginning to show their potential to
rack up an undefeated record.
"Last year with Davina out, we
had a hole in the middle of our line
up," Schyllander said. "(Getting) her
back has been a huge part of our
success. We just need to stay healthy
and be lucky in that way and keep
plugging away and taking it one
match at a time."
Mendiburu has provided quality
depth in the lineup and continues
to be successful at whatever posi
tion she plays. Having improved
from the No. 5 position to the No.
2 position throughout the course of
the year, Mendiburu now has an 8-0
dual match-singles record.
Depth is proving to be a key asset
for the women. In addition to
Mendiburu's comeback, freshman
Dominika Dieskova is fast becom
ing one of the best players in the
conference behind her teammate
and reigning Pac-10 Women's Player
of the Year, junior Daria Panova.
Dieskova earned one of the biggest
wins in her career when she defeat
ed Arizona's Diane Hollands in
three sets, 6-4, 4-6 and 6-4, last
weekend. Hollands is ranked No. 28
nationally in singles.
"I feel like we're deeper this year
than we were (last season)," Schyl
lander said.
Inexperienced Wildcats come to house of horrors
Arizona enters its final road
trip of the season and hopes
to repeat the 90-66 win
over Oregon in January
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Arizona looks younger, and the
Golden Bears play younger.
But that shouldn't matter, says Ari
zona head coach Lute Olson.
Inexperience has hurt Arizona on
the road this season. The Wildcats
(16-6 overall, 8-5 Pac-10) have lost
four of their five Pacific-10 Confer
ence road games.
"We haven't swept a road trip so far
this year," Olson said. "Certainly, that
will be a challenge for us to get that
changed. It's important for us to con
tinue building the momentum as we
get closer to tournament play."
Arizona begins its final road trip of
the season when it plays Oregon at
McArthur Court tonight at 7:30.
When the Ducks played Arizona in
the desert on Jan. 25, they were blown
out by 24 points.
But Oregon was without freshman
Aaron Brooks at the time and without
the 9,087 screaming fans that pack
McArthur Court for every home game.
Olson knows that playing in Eugene
and the possibility of Brooks returning
from injury could dramatically change
the stakes.
"We know that the environment is
something that gives a 15-point advan
tage (to Oregon) at least with the crowd
there," Olson said. "And the other thing
is Aaron Brooks didn't play against us
down here and I understand he's going
"We haven't swept a road
trip so far yet this year.
Certainly, that will be a
challenge for us to get
that changed."
Lute Olson
Arizona head coach
to play up there."
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent has
said Brooks will probably not play, but
that's not final.
"It will be a totally different Oregon
team if he plays," Olson said.
No. 14 Arizona has only swept the
Oregon road trip once in the last five
seasons. The series between the two
schools, which dates back to 1979,
gives the Wildcats a slight 13-12 edge in
games played in Eugene.
Although Arizona may be young, it
does not lack talent. The Wildcats are
led by sophomores Hassan Adams and
Andre Iguodala.
Adams is averaging 16.2 points, 6.9
rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
Iguodala is becoming known as the
king of the triple-double
Iguodala earned his third triple-dou
ble of the season in Arizona's 107-83
win against UCLA last weekend. Only
California's Jason Kidd earned more
triple-doubles, with four, during the
1993-94 season.
Iguodala is averaging 13.2 points, 8.8
rebounds and 5.4 assists per game Ari
zona brings an experienced Salim
Stoudamire to the guard spot and cen
ter Channing Frye has also stepped up
in his junior season.
With only five regular-season confer
ence games remaining for Arizona,
each one becomes more important.
Arizona is expected to advance to the
NCAA Tournament but the count in
the win column determines seeding.
"Every game is going to have some
effect on the seeding and is going to
also have an effect on how many teams
the Pac-10 gets in the tournament" Ol
son said. "Every game is important to
every team in the league"
Arizona has lost to Washington and
USC on the road this year, and both are
teams with worse records than Oregon.
Contact the sports reporter
at jessethomas@dailyemerald.com.
Future looks bright for Oregon women's basketball
The 2003-04 season has been full
of disappointments for the Oregon
women's basketball team.
Injuries and inexperience have
taken the Ducks from a top 25 team
to a squad stuck in eighth place in
the Pacific-10 Conference with a 4
10 record.
Five games into the season, Ore
gon looked like a team bound for
the NCAA tournament. Then
Cathrine Kraayeveld tore the anteri
or cruciate ligament in her right
knee during practice on Dec. 2. It
marked the second time in as many
seasons that Kraayeveld missed time
because of knee troubles; she missed
13 games last season with a staph in
fection in her right knee.
The senior forward is by far the
team's best player, and without her,
the Ducks simply have had no
chance to compete in the Pac-10.
With the season coming to a
close, it can be painful for Oregon
supporters to look back and remem
ber what could have been.
Duck fans can rest easy, however.
Good times are ahead.
Despite the fact Oregon owns one
of the worst records in the confer
ence, the Ducks will be major play
ers in next season's Pac-10 title race.
Other than general optimism, there
are several reasons Duck fans should
be looking forward to next season.
• The return of Kraayeveld: No
Oregon athlete is more important to
the success of his or her team than
Kraayeveld is to the women's basket
ball program.
She's more important than Kellen
Clemens is to the football team, Luke
Jackson to the men's basketball team or
Nicole Garbin to the soccer team.
In the five games she played in be
fore getting injured, the 6-foot-4
senior All-American candidate led
the Ducks in scoring (17.2), re
Jon Roetman
Roughing the passer
bounding (8.6), three-pointers
made (11) and total blocks (16).
Since Kraayeveld played in less
than 20 percent of her team's
games, she was allowed to use this
season as a medical redshirt year.
After missing more than 40 games
during two seasons, Kraayeveld will
have plenty of pent-up energy to un
leash on opponents next year. Her
return to the court will make her
teammates better and bring back the
national respect Oregon was starting
to earn.
• Experience: Many of the youthful
mistakes that plagued Oregon this year
will be gone by the time the Ducks en
ter next season. All but one Oregon
player — guard Kayla Steen — will re
turn for the 2004-05 campaign.
First-year Ducks Corrie Mizusawa,
Chelsea Wagner, Eleanor Haring and
Jessica Shetters have had a chance to
see what Pac-10 basketball is all
about and Andrea Bills, Brandi
Davis and Kedzie Gunderson will be
a year wiser.
The perimeter game of Wagner
and Davis will thrive with the return
of Kraayeveld and Bills will no
longer have to carry the entire re
bounding burden on her back.
• Incoming talent: Oregon's po
tent roster will also feature prep star
Kristen Forristall. The 6-foot-2 for
ward is a product of national-power
Oregon City High School and held
the attention of many recruiters
around the nation.
Forristall is currently averaging
17.5 points per game for a team that
has won nine of the last 12 state
championships.
With all the pieces in place next
season, Oregon has a legitimate shot
at a Pac-10 title.
It's a good time to be a Duck fan.
Contact the sports reporter
at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.
His views do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
STRONG
continued from page 13
35 seconds into the contest.
Gunderson said she's looking for
ward to playing Thursday and wants
to step up offensively as well.
"I love playing against (Arizona
State) because they pressure and I
love to drive on them," Gunderson
said. "... I missed out on the first
one so I definitely want to get in on
the second one and wreak some
havoc if I can."
Oregon will likely need a big of
fensive performance from Wagner if
the Ducks are going to hand Arizona
State its second home loss of the sea
son. The Springfield native scored
20 points and knocked down five
three-pointers in the season's first
meeting, which will likely cause the
Sun Devils to keep a defender on her
around the perimeter.
McNeill said Wagner will have to
play aggressively if she wants to be
an offensive factor.
"The only thing to counteract
when someone says 'We're not going
to give you a three' is Chelsea is go
ing to have to take the ball to the
basket and get fouled," McNeill said.
"We will set some screens for her
and we will work to penetrate and
try to kick to her."
Wagner, who is playing on a tom
lateral meniscus in her left knee, said
she knows she'll have a tough night
in front of her.
"I'm sure they'll overplay me a little
more than usual," Wagner said. "I'll
just continue to work to get open."
Contact the sports reporter
at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.
SALVAGE
continued from page 13
Dustin Fisher (184-pound dass) all
pinned their opponents to finish the,
match and the season on a more *
memorable note.
It also marked the first time the
team was on the same page on the
same night.
It can only be bittersweet for three
Oregon wrestlers who were compet
ing rn their last regular-season meet.
Harless, Fisher, and Leair all ended
their regular season with a victory in
impressive fashion.
More importantly, it gives the
Ducks something to build on as
they prepare themselves for post
season matches .*.
Oregon will have nearly two
weeks off before heading to the Pac
10 Conference Championships on
Feb. 29 and March 1. There the
Ducks will try to qualify wrestlers
for the NCAA tournament, held lat
er ili'March. ..—
Oregon finished the conference
tournament in fifth place a year ago
while sending three of its wrestlers on
to nationals.
Scott Archer is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.