No. 35 Ducks to Face No. 20 UCLA, No. 32 USC at Home

EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 35 University of Oregon women's tennis team will host the No. 20 UCLA Bruins and No. 32 USC Trojans this weekend for the Pac-12 home opener at the Student Tennis Center. Action will begin on Friday at 1:00 p.m. against UCLA and 12:00 p.m. on Sunday against USC.

The Ducks (8-5) are coming off a weekend sweep over the Washington schools to open Pac-12 play 2-0, and currently on a three-match winning streak. At home, the Ducks are 4-1 this season.

"We are excited for two more Pac-12 matches this weekend against great teams," head coach Alison Silverio said. "It's an opportunity to play against the best when you want to be the best!"

Oregon vs. UCLA (7-5, 1-1 Pac-12)
Friday, March 17 – 1:00 p.m.
Student Tennis Center – Eugene, Ore.
LIVE STATS – bit.ly/2jMkGNZ
LIVE STREAM – bit.ly/2ioEMsT

Oregon vs USC (4-5, 0-2 Pac-12)
Women in Flight match - FREE DONUTS! -
Sunday, March 19 – 12:00 p.m.
Student Tennis Center – Eugene, Ore.
LIVE STATS – bit.ly/2jMkGNZ
LIVE STREAM – bit.ly/2ioEMsT

The Opponents: UCLA holds a 20-0 all-time record against the Ducks. The last time the two teams met, the Ducks fell 4-3 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center (3/26/16). Both Oregon and UCLA are 3-3 on the road this season.

Last weekend, the Bruins split their Pac-12 opener with a 3-4 loss to Stanford, and 4-3 win over No. 12 Cal at home.

The No. 20 Bruins have the No. 3-ranked singles player in the nation in freshman Ena Shibahara, and No. 81-ranked redshirt freshman Jada Hart. The duo is ranked as the No. 4 doubles pair in the country.

USC holds a 22-0 all-time record against the Ducks. The last time the teams met was March 25, 2016 at Marks Stadium. The Trojans swept Oregon 7-0.

Last weekend, USC opened Pac-12 play 0-2 as they fell 3-4 to Cal and 0-4 to Stanford at home. On the road, USC is 1-2.

Junior Gabby Smith is the No. 25-ranked singles player in the nation. Sophomore Jessica Failla is No. 38, senior Zoë Katz is No. 88, and junior Madison Westby is No. 113.

USC has four doubles pairs in the national rankings. Katz and Smith are the top-ranked doubles pair for the Women of Troy, ranked No. 21. Angela Kulikova and Madison Westby are ranked No. 64, while Rianna Valdes and Jessica Faila are No. 75. Katz and Madison Westby are No. 78.

Last Time Out: The Ducks are coming off an impressive weekend with a 4-3 win over then No. 25 Washington and 4-0 sweep over Washington State on the road.

Against Washington, Sophomore Shweta Sangwan and junior Alyssa Tobita earned their 16th win of the season with a 7-5 result over No. 26 Nour Abbes and Miki Kobayashi. It was the pair's first win over a ranked opponent this season. On court two, freshman Julia Eshet and senior Marlou Kluiving took down No. 69 Stacey Fung and Kenadi Hance 7-5 to secure the doubles point. The win marks the duo's 17th this season. Sophomore Daniela Nasser and junior Nia Rose's match against Katarina Kopcalic and Lana Slavica went unfinished.

In singles, the Huskies picked up momentum as Hance took down Kluiving 6-2, 6-1 on court five. Kopcalic moved the score to Washington's favor, 2-1, with a straight set win over Nasser, 6-4. 6-4. The match seemed to fully tilt to UW's favor, as Abbes won 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 over Tobita. The Ducks proved to be far from done however, as Rose defeated No. 123 Kobayashi, 7-6, 6-4. With the score 3-2, UW, Oregon needed to take the final two matches for the win. Eshet showed confidence beyond her years as she took down Prokopuik in three sets, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Tied 3-3, it all came down to Sangwan and No. 121 Fung on court one. With the match going to a three-set tiebreaker, Sangwan took her 12th win of the season, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, as the Ducks rushed the court.

Coming off the exciting win, the Ducks held their momentum against the Cougars.

In doubles, Sangwan and Tobita got the first win for the Ducks with a 6-2 victory over Barbora Michalkova and Victoria Matejevic. The win moves the duo to 17-6 on the season. Washington State grabbed the next doubles win, as Melissa Ates and Guzal Yusupova defeated Rose and Nasser, 6-3. With split wins, the doubles point came down to the final match. For their 18th win of the season, Kluiving and Eshet solidified the point with a 6-3 result over Aneta Miksovska and Lejla Colic.

In singles, Tobita grabbed the second point for the Ducks, as she took down Michalkova in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. In the No. 3 position, Rose defeated Miksovska 6-0, 7-5. In a tight three-set battle at No. 1 between Sangwan and Yusupova, and No. 4 Eshet and Ates, Eshet solidified the Ducks' victory as she won the three-set tiebreak point, 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5). Sangwan, Kluiving and Nasser's matches went unfinished.

Oregon 2017 Season Records:

Singles –

Shweta Sangwan: 12-6
Nia Rose: 10-12
Alyssa Tobita: 14-8
Julia Eshet: 14-6
Rifanty Kahfiani: 3-1
Marlou Kluiving: 16-3
Daniela Nasser: 9-5
Janvhi Clark: 1-0
Paloma Gomez: 1-1

Doubles –

Tobita/Kahfiani: 1-1
Tobita/Sangwan: 17-6
Nasser/Clark: 1-0
Nasser/Rose: 10-4
Eshet/Kluiving: 18-3
Sangwan/Rose: 0-2
Kahfiani/Rose: 2-1
Gomez/Rose:

Noteworthy: Kluiving and Eshet are the Ducks' most winningest pair in doubles this year and have a record of 18-3 overall, followed by Sangwan and Tobita, 17-6. Both pairs defeated ranked Washington doubles opponents last Friday and went undefeated last weekend. Kluiving is also the top singles player this season at 16-3 overall.

Kluiving jumped Kumi Nagamoto ('87-'90) for sixth highest career singles victories in program history. The senior is currently 62-22 (.738). Kluiving is three wins behind Oregon tennis great, All-American Courtney Nagle ('00-'04) (65-56). Daria Panova ('01-'05) holds the program record with 94 career singles wins.

Eshet went undefeated last weekend and is now 14-6 overall in singles play in her freshman season. The Hollywood, Fla., native is on a five-match win streak.

Rose, who had not had a result since Eastern Washington, went undefeated last weekend in singles play with a win last Friday over a ranked opponent. She is now 10-12 on the season.

The Ducks' upset 4-3 win over No. 25 Washington came down to the third-set tiebreak of Sangwan over No. 121 Stacey Fung, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6.

The Oregon Video department published a feature on Sangwan's journey to becoming a standout on the University of Oregon women's tennis team. The feature can be found on the team's Facebook and Twitter pages or clicking here - bit.ly/2jsDkHS

Looking Ahead: The Ducks will have have a week and a half break before facing Fresno State on the road on Wednesday, March 29. On Friday, March 31, Oregon will resume Pac-12 play to face Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. Action is set for 1:30 p.m. PT.

Follow the Ducks: Follow all of the University of Oregon women's tennis action both on and off the court. Make sure to follow @OregonWTennis on Twitter. Also follow the team on Facebook by "liking" Oregon Ducks Women's Tennis and following Oregon Women's Tennis on Instagram.

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