Settling Into the Season
For Daily Emerald
The fall season has finally reached its end, but the Oregon women’s tennis team is just getting started. Over the last three months, the roster, which is full of many new faces, competed in three tournaments: the Duck Invitational, the ITA Northwest Regionals and the San Diego State University Fall Classic. Returners re-adjusted to the familiar Division I athletics grind while newcomers adapted to the college-level tennis program. The entire team was getting acclimated to the intensive schedule and each other.
In early September, head coach Courtney Nagle and Oregon’s returning players welcomed four teammates to their lineup: Candela Aparisi from Valencia, Spain; Tilde Jagare from Gavle, Sweden; SEC transfers Nina Geissler (LSU) and Olivia Symons (Tennessee).
“The team clicked the first week we met each other,” Karin Young, a junior letterwinner, said. “There are a lot of different personalities on our team.”
The diversity of experience, age and nationality is something that junior Sophie Luescher believes will be beneficial to the team’s success this season. “It is good to get fresh inputs and new perspectives,” she said. “It is still a developing dynamic, but overall we have formed a strong foundational connection.”
The Oregon women’s team began its fall slate just weeks after many of the players settled into Eugene, making their fall season debut at the Duck Invitational from Oct. 6-8. Over the course of three days, Oregon competed against the University of Portland, Washington State University and Portland State University.
It was a prime weekend for players to reacclimate under the Eugene sun on a familiar outdoor court surface. Nagle tested out different doubles pairings and accommodated for multiple player illnesses, which kept Jagare and Symons for matchplay competition. Luescher went 3-0 in doubles, while partnered with three different teammates. In total, Oregon posted a 10-2 singles record, tallying 4-0 wins against both Portland and Portland State, while registering a combined 6-1 in doubles against its opponents.
After making their doubles debut at the Duck invite, Young and Aparisi continued to dominate down south at the ITA Northwest Regionals. The fresh pair, along with Oregon’s reigning No. 1 doubles team in Luescher and fifth-year Uxia Martinez Moral, made an impressive run to the quarterfinals. However, both teams suffered a similar fate and were ousted by ranked California duos, California Berkeley and Stanford University, respectively.
Just as the team dynamic began to gel and players were preparing for the SDSU Fall Classic, a core member of the Oregon roster unexpectedly hit the transfer portal. It was not a player, but instead associate head coach Elizabeth Lumpkin Robinson.
“I figured she might want to leave at one point to become a head coach,” Luescher said. “However, I did not expect her departure to happen now, especially in the middle of the fall season. I think a lot of the team was surprised.”
Following a six-year stint with the Ducks, Lumpkin Robinson accepted a head coach position at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The former WTA pro and NCAA champion announced her job acceptance on Nov. 1.
The four-time Illinois high school state champion will take her tennis talent back to the Windy City. In an interview posted by the UIC women’s tennis team on Instagram, Lumpkin Robinson said she looks forward to joining the UIC coaching staff, experiencing the Chicago culture and introducing her children to a new home.
“We all miss her, especially her positivity, but we remain focused on our tennis and becoming better individually and as a team,” Luescher said.
Despite the distraction of Lumpkin Robinson’s sudden departure, the Ducks managed to finish their season strong with three players advancing to the singles finals of the SDSU Fall Classic. Jagare completed an undefeated weekend in singles, securing her first collegiate wins. Luescher also played in the final of her singles bracket Sunday, but lost to University of Colorado’s Aya El Sayed, 6-2, 6-4. Young similarly faced defeat in the finals against Colorado State’s Victoria Erechtchenko in a tough three-set battle. UO finished a combined 29-15 in singles action for the fall season.
Despite only having two coaching eyes on the players during practice, Luescher said the team is still working hard towards its ultimate goal of a bid to the NCAA tournament. Young agreed, and confirmed that the team is capable of achieving this goal, even if they do so with only one coach.
“I am excited to see how this team will perform in-season; I hope we will continue to grow, get to know each other and make it to the tournament,” Young said.
Oregon women’s tennis splits weekend series against UCSB and Denver
For Daily Emerald
The Lady Ducks (4-3) landed back in the Student Tennis Center this past weekend for two competitive contests. On Saturday, Oregon outlasted the University of Santa Barbara (2-1), claiming a 4-3 victory over the Gauchos. Oregon came up short the following day in a back-and-forth battle against the University of Denver (6-2). The 3-4 loss to the Pioneers snapped the Ducks’ four-game winning streak in Eugene.
An early Ducks’ lead helped Oregon escape the UCSB Gauchos. It all started with Karin Young and Candela Aparisi securing a smooth 6-2 win at the No. 3 spot over Camille Kiss and Carla Pacot. Oregon’s Court 2 duo, Jo-Yee Chan and Uxia Martinez Moral, moved past Tyra Richardson and Lucy Lu, 6-4. The team ended the set with a perfect, unreachable lob over Lu’s head.
“This win gave Jo-Yee and me a lot of confidence, which we’ve needed since we are still getting used to playing together,” Martinez Moral said. “We played really well even with our opponents challenging us. Both of our energies carried over nicely into singles.”
Defending the doubles point was a key morale builder for the Ducks, allowing the ladies to soar through the first three singles matches in straight sets to take a 4-0 lead and secure the Oregon win.
“I think we came out with a good mindset early on,” head coach Courtney Nagle said. “Numbers. 2 and 3 played some solid tennis.”
Chan eased past UCSB’s Reuter, 6-2, 6-1. The Gaucho graduate student showed that doubles was definitely her stronger suit; she struggled to stay as consistent in singles. Meanwhile, Chan convinced the crowd and her coaches that she could excel at both positions.
Typically, Martinez Moral is the last one standing in singles. She often takes her opponents to three-sets and has long, exhaustive rallies from the baseline. However, that was not the case against UCSB’s Lu. The Spanish Duck finished her singles match shortly after her doubles partner came off the court, winning 6-1, 6-3.
“Today’s match was great for my self-confidence and for getting ready for Sunday’s battle against Denver,” Martinez Moral said. “Going into our next match, I just want to play within my personality and stick to my game plan — like I did today.”
While Martinez Moral was already mentally preparing for the following day of competition, the rest of her teammates were still on the court fighting off the fearless Gauchos.
On Court 5, Young defeated Richardson 6-3, 6-2, and clinched the match for the Ducks. Even though the match had already been decided, UCSB won the remaining three singles matches.
Oregon’s No. 1 Sophie Luescher tried to rediscover her patterns and play strategically, but the No. 64-ranked Honer ran away with the second set and effectively shut down the Swiss junior, 5-7, 1-6. On Court 3, Aparisi lost to Carla Pacot, 4-6, 4-6, before UCSB’s Camille Kiss overcame Nina Geissler in three sets.
The STC reopened its doors on Sunday, with the morning sunlight peeking through the glass.
With less than 24 hours to recover, the Ducks were back in doubles action. However, this time with different pairings.
Geissler was out of the lineup due to injury. So, Oregon switched up some players and positions to play the Pioneers.
Despite Oregon’s strategic effort to solve its lineup situation, Denver won the doubles point. Confidence turned into silence on Court 1 when Chan and Martinez Moral were quickly beaten by Denver’s Britt Pursell and Andrea Beltran. After splitting a few early breaks, the Pioneer’s No. 2 team defeated Young and Aparisi, 6-3. Luescher and Tilde Jagare were down 4-5 to Claudia Martinez and Alice Otis on Court 3 before the match went unfinished.
Sunday was just the second time in seven matches this season that the Ducks failed to grab the doubles point.
Oregon leveled the dual at 1-1, with Aparisi ousting Karsyn Evans, 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 5 position. However, the Denver Pioneers quickly retook the lead and came within one point of victory at 3-1.
Chan failed to seal a singles victory and lost to Pursell, 2-6, 3-6. This was the Atlanta native’s first time playing Oregon’s No. 2 singles spot after winning her last three matches at third singles. Luescher also lost in a second-set tiebreak to Beltran, who was recently named the Summit League Performer of the Week.
“I think for Sophie, trusting her game and not thinking she has to overplay is crucial,” Nagle said. “I think she will bounce back stronger from this weekend.”
The Ducks once again pulled things even at 3-3. Oregon kept the dual close by taking the Nos. 3 and 4 singles, with Martinez Moral and Young winning at both positions.
The only match to go three sets was the final one to conclude: No. 6 singles. Jagare, who made her spring season debut, lost the first set but took the second before dropping the third. The freshman forced her opponent to play, but nerves and lack of shot variety ultimately cost her chances at a clinching comeback.
Oregon has flights booked to Boise, Idaho, this upcoming weekend for two road matches: the first against Minnesota on Saturday at 11 a.m. and then Boise State on Sunday at 10 a.m.