March 21, 2013

EUGENE, Ore. -

Arizona women’s tennis (8-7, 0-2) returns to action in Eugene, Ore., as the Wildcats take on No. 64 Oregon (10-3, 0-2) on Sunday, March 24 at noon PT at the Oregon Student Tennis Center.

Both teams will seek to record their first conference win this weekend. 

In last week’s competition, Oregon fell to No. 42 Washington and No. 60 Washington State at home to begin its conference schedule, while Arizona was idle due to its scheduled bye-week. 

Prior to its bye, UA dropped matches at Utah and Colorado to start Pac-12 play. 

The last time that Arizona played in Eugene was 2009 where the Ducks defeated the Cats, 4-3. UA’s last win in Eugene came in 2006 where the Cats squeezed past the Ducks, 4-3. 

In the previous 10 meetings between the two schools, Arizona and Oregon are locked at five wins apiece. 

The Wildcats are 1-5 on the road this season. The away win came against Minnesota in late January. 

The victory against Minnesota was also the highest ranked opponent that Arizona has defeated -- Minnesota was ranked No. 41 at the time. Arizona is 3-6 against ranked opponents this season.  

In last year’s match in Tucson, Arizona defeated Oregon, 6-1, at the Robson Tennis Center. Current UA juniors Lacey Smyth (Oceanside, Calif.), Kim Stubbe (Mol, Belgium) and Susan Mc Rann (Dublin, Ireland) were among those that competed in the match. Stubbe and Mc Rann won at the No. 4 and 5 singles spot, respectively, while Smyth battled at the No. 1. 

Smyth is also expected to play at the No. 1 singles spot this Sunday. Her overall individual record at the No. 1 is 13-2. 

UA Sophomore Laura Oldham (Sheffield, England) was also on last year’s squad but did not compete against Oregon. This season, Oldham has played at the No. 3 singles spot in all matches as the Sheffield native owns a 10-4 individual record. 

UA Juniors Akilah James (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Susan Mc Rann (Dublin, Ireland) will look to improve their 12-3 doubles record at the No. 3 spot. 

Oregon’s is 9-2 this season at home, with the two losses coming this past week. 

Sophomore Nicole Long has featured at the No. 1 singles and doubles spot for Oregon this season. Long is currently riding a 17-match winning streak in singles. Long is 13-0 in singles. 

In doubles, Long and teammate Patricia Skowronski picked up two victories at the No. 1 in last week’s competition. 

Oregon senior Julia Metzger has won nine-consecutive singles matches with her last two coming at the No. 3 spot. 

Live stats will be provided by Oregon Athletics via the link:

http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=206825580&DB_OEM_ID=500 

For immediate results and continued coverage of Arizona Women’s Tennis, visit ArizonaWildcats.com, or follow the Arizona Women’s Tennis Facebook page, or follow @ArizonaWTennis on Twitter.