Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, November 4, 2004
“It’s just the same as school, just without all
the adult supervision and everyone needing to
know where I’m going every five minutes. ”
Dorell Wright | Miami Heat rookie on the difference between high school and the NBA
■ Duck tennis
Oregon's
tennis aces
to compete
at nationals
Tennis stars Sven Swinnen and
Daria Panova will compete in
national indoor tournament
BY ALEX TAM
FREELANCE SPORTS REPORTER
Two members of Oregon’s tennis teams
have a chance to claim their first singles na
tional championship this weekend.
Sven Swinnen and Daria Panova will
each compete in a 32-player field at the In
tercollegiate Tennis Association National In
door Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.,
beginning today.
Swinnen, ranked the No. 12 singles player
in the nation, received an automatic bid to the
national tournament when he claimed the
Wilson/ITA West Regional title last week. The
23-year-old Swinnen was the first-ever Oregon
men’s tennis player to win the title after de
feating Matt Loucks of Portland in three sets,
6-2,3-6 and 6-3.
“I’m going to try and keep playing like I did
at regionals,” Swinnen said. “I want to stick to
my game plan 1 guess and just hope it works. ”
Swinnen said he had been battling an an
kle injury to begin the season, which caused
him to bow out of the first round of the ITA
All-American tournament in early October.
“The ankle is good right now,” Swinnen
said. “Now 1 feel good and now I’m excited
for Michigan.”
Oregon assistant coach Ross Duncan said
he was impressed with the way his No. 1
player was able to bounce back in a big way
and is hopeful he will turn in a good perform
ance at the ITA nationals.
“I have high expectations and high hopes,”
Duncan said. “Because the tournament is in
doors, anyone can beat anyone. Those first
couple of rounds are crucial, so I’m kind of
hoping he can really get through those and
from then on, it’s who knows.”
On the women’s side, Panova received an
at-large bid to the ITA national tournament.
The 22-year-old Panova is ranked No. 8 in the
nation, but was ousted in the third round of
the ITA West Regionals to Stanford’s Whitney
Deason in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-0.
“I did play my best tennis. I think I
played like usual, but the girl played really,
really good,” Panova said. “In the first set,
I played OK, but in the second set, she
played unbelievable.”
Panova is compiling an impressive resume
at Oregon. She is the all-time career leader in
wins (76) and single-season victories (32 last
season). Panova, a senior, also is the owner of
three Pacific-10 Conference women’s singles
titles, including the 2003 indoor and outdoor
titles and the 2004 indoor championship.
However, the national championship is one
that has slipped out of her grasp in her four
years at Oregon. Panova said she struggles to
keep her emotions from affecting her matches.
“Even if I lose the first set, I just need to
fight until the end,” Panova said. “I think I’m
ready though.”
Panova, a native of Moscow, Russia, said
she has high expectations for herself this
weekend and hopes to bring home her first
singles national title.
“My expectation is to win nationals,” Pano
va said. “I can do it. I believe in myself. ”
Alex Tam is a freelance reporter
for the Daily Emerald
■ Duck volleyball
........
Erik R. Bishoff | Photographer
Senior Katie O’Neil, left, and junior Kelly Russell, right, have been the ‘anchors’ of Oregon's team. Sophomore Sarah Mason, middle, is expected to return from injury this week.
Ducks look to end 8-game skid in desert
Oregon takes on No. 22 Arizona and Arizona State
in hopes of picking up much-needed momentum
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
Eight matches remain on Ore
gon’s schedule, with five of its up
coming opponents ranked in the
top 25.
The Ducks have surrendered
eight consecutive conference
matches and they have only won
four of 28 games played during the
current stretch.
Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira
pinpointed inconsistency and a
lack of attack rhythm for his
team’s depressing offensive slump.
“The thing that we have been
truly trying to work on this week is
sustaining our point-scoring pa
tience,” Ferreira said after practice
Tuesday. “I think we have proved
that we can play at the level we
want to play at.”
Sophomore outside hitter Sarah
Mason is expected to return from
an ankle injury sustained in prac
tice two weeks ago. According to
Ferreira, she was medically cleared
to practice on Monday and partici
pated in half of that day’s drills. On
Tliesday, Ferreira estimated that
Mason took part in 70 percent of
the practice drills and felt fine.
“It’s been fun to have her back
in the gym,” Ferreira said. “Hope
fully she’ll be available for us this
upcoming weekend. There’s no
question that a 6-foot-3 outside hit
ter is a good thing. I think it will
give our whole team a boost. ”
Ferreira predicts Mason will play
in at least part of one game, possibly
two, this week. The potency of Ma
son’s attack and her intensity on the
floor could give Oregon’s offense
the shot in the arm it has needed.
“It’s definitely been a process
and a transition to get ourselves
back on our feet without Lauren
VOLLEYBALL, cage 14
■ Duck soccer
Co-captains to play final games at Oregon
Seniors Christine Mintz and Kelly Baird leave
the Ducks with impressive games-played records
BY BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s soccer
team will send off two of its most
experienced players this weekend as
the Ducks host Arizona and Ari
zona State at Pape Field.
Senior co-captains Christine
Mintz and Kelly Baird will play their
final two matches in an Oregon uni
form and will leave as two of the
better players in Duck history.
Between them, they have started
in 97 matches over seven seasons.
Mintz, after transferring from
Connecticut her freshman year, be
came a team leader with her tough
and composed presence in the
backfield. She ranks ninth all-time
for the Ducks in career starts with
54. She recently had her consecu
tive games started streak snapped at
47 after receiving a red card against
Wyoming last month.
“She transferred from a national
ly known program,” Oregon head
coach Bill Steffen said. “She was
giving up some things (tournament
berths). She had to step into a differ
ent role (on the team) and had to
change and I appreciated that.”
Mintz is second on the team this
season with 1,304 minutes played,
and last year in 2003 was the only
member for the Ducks (and only
one of five in the Pacific-10 confer
ence) to play all 1,816 minutes of
the season.
“She’s played steady and sol
id,” Steffen said. “The minutes
she has given us have been really
good for us.”
Mintz scored the first two goals
of her career earlier in the year —
the first came in the 85th minute
of their win against Weber State
and the second came against
SOCCER, page 14
Emerald
Oregon senior
co-captain Kelly
Baird, who has
battled through a
number of injuries,
will finish her Duck
career this week
end against Arizona
and Arizona State
at Pap6 Field.