Oregon Sports Weekend Roundup

Women’s Beach Volleyball - Tall Trees Classic

Oregon’s Beach Volleyball team was back in action on Saturday and Sunday at the Tall Trees Classic in Boise, Idaho. A much smaller affair than their previous competition at the Alki Pairs in Seattle, the Ducks competed against host Boise State and fellow Pac-12 member Utah. The Ducks had two teams in the Gold and Bronze* divisions, and three in the Silver division. In pool play on Saturday the Ducks’ duos went 0-4 in Gold, 2-4 in Silver, and 1-3 in Bronze.

*In a highly unusual situation, Oregon’s Josie Griffiths partnered with Utah’s Siona Thompson to form a mixed team that also competed the Bronze division to fill out the pool.

In bracket play on Sunday, both of Oregon’s pairs were eliminated in the Gold division quarterfinals. Jensen Kaelin and Alina Valenti would go on to notch a victory for the Ducks over Utah’s Gwen Fife and Chloe Narancich in consolation play. In the Silver division the only victory for the Ducks came when Macy Furtwangler and Natasha George advanced to the semifinals by defeating Milan Ray and Lauren Sayre of Utah before falling to Boise State’s Mya Jackson and Addison Wolden. Oregon’s Kendall Clark and Katrena Koellner prevented the team being swept during Sunday games in the Bronze division by upsetting the bracket’s top seed of Kylie Pitzak and Azure McOmber of Utah in the quarterfinals. The clock struck midnight in the semifinals when Clark and Koellner were defeated by Summer McCann and Elli Wolthuis of Boise State.

Beach Volleyball has now completed its fall competition schedule.

GoDucks.com, “Two Pairs Reach Division Semifinals”

Men’s Tennis - ITA Northwest Super Regionals

The men of Oregon had four competitors in the Super Regional tournament: Vlad Breazu, David Cierny, Ray Lo and Quinn Vandecasteele. In the opening round of 32 in singles competition, only Vandecasteele advanced after defeating Aryan Chaudhary of Stanford in straight sets. He would continue on to Sunday by beating the University of Portland’s Oscar Brown in the round of 16, again in straight sets.

In doubles play on Saturday Vandecasteele partnered with Cierny to qualify for Sunday’s semifinal round by beating Portland State’s Andrea Brignacca and Jan Semerak followed by UC Davis’ Luke Bollinger and Ryan Torres. Not content with doubles play alone, Vandecasteele beat Santa Clara’s Guillaume Dalmasso in straight sets to advance to Sunday’s individual semifinals. Cierny and Vandecasteele were eliminated in their semifinal match by Washington’s Cesar Bouchelaghem and Dzianis Zharyn in straight sets, but Vandecasteele took down Stanford’s Hudson Rivera in three sets to advance to Monday’s individual final.

Nationally ranked #29 Samir Banjeree of Stanford was no match for the mighty Duck, and Vandecasteele won the final in straight sets to qualify for the ITA National Championships beginning November 1 in San Diego, CA. The team is back in action today at the SoCal Intercollegiate Championships in Los Angeles, CA.

GoDucks.com, “Vandecasteele is ITA Northwest Super Regional Champion”

Women’s Golf - Stanford Intercollegiate

Oregon women’s golf finished their Fall schedule with the Stanford Invitational, a three round tournament played from Friday through Sunday. The Ducks entered five competitors: Ching-Tzu Chen, Kiara Romero, Ashleigh Park, Ting-Hsuan (Tiffany) Huangand, and Baylee Hammericksen. Notably absent were two time All-American Briana Chacon and senior Minori Nagano, who both were competing as part of an LPGA tournament at the same time.

Without them, the #4 Ducks finished 11th in the field of 19 teams behind fellow Pac-12 teams #11 USC, #1 Stanford, #27 California, #7 UCLA, #25 Arizona State, and #48 Oregon State. The good news for the Ducks was that they improved their score every day of the tournament, finishing with results of 296, 292, and 284 strokes with four scores out of five counted on each day at the par 71 course. Chen had an excellent performance, finishing under par three days straight and tied for 3rd overall at -5.

The team will begin its Spring schedule at the Therese Hessian Regional Challenge beginning February 4.

GoDucks.com, “Chen Posts Second Straight Top-Five Finish “

Softball - Pink Game/Canned Food Drive

Softball wrapped up their fall exhibitions with a scrimmage against Southern Oregon University. The Ducks dominated the Raiders 28-10 in 12 innings. As a scrimmage outside the regular season, runners were frequently placed on base in later innings to allow both teams to practice specific situations. Oregon head coach Melissa Lombardi expressed her satisfaction with the overall shape of the team coming out of fall, but bemoaned poor communication on defense during specific scenarios.

The Ducks will have time to hone their craft before opening the regular season at the NFCA Leadoff classic in Clearwater, FL on February 8.