Huskies duel with Raiders, Ducks
February 25, 2005
The Washington men's tennis team will play the final two matches of its nine-match season-starting homestand this weekend.
The No. 15 Huskies (8-1) will face No. 56 Texas Tech at 5 p.m. today and No. 48 Oregon at 2 p.m. Sunday. The match against the Ducks is a non-conference bout and will not count in the Pac-10 standings.
"We are going to be going toe-to-toe with our opponents [this weekend]," UW coach Matt Anger said. "From now on, all of the matches are going to be close, and it's really important for us to get ourselves so that we are into the match, and you have to go out there and make it tough for all the teams to beat you."
The Red Raiders (7-0) will face their first ranked team in Washington. The UW has a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series between the two teams.
Only one ranked player will be competing for Texas Tech this weekend. Freshman Bojan Szumanski is currently ranked No. 26 in the nation.
"They area very underrated team," Anger said. "They have their whole team back from last year, and they are very talented."
Sunday, Washington will have a non-conference battle with Northwest and Pac-10 rival Oregon. Last season, the two teams split a pair of matches, with both teams winning at home.
All-American senior Sven Swinnen leads the Ducks (7-4). Swinnen is 10-0 in dual play this season and ranked No. 20.
"They're back up in the top 50 as they beat Minnesota last week," Anger said about Oregon. "They've had a couple of injuries, and those guys are all going to be back and healthy so we are going to have two super matches this weekend."
Washington will have three players in the top 40 of the recent ITA rankings competing this weekend. Seniors Christoph Palmanshofer and Alex Vlaski climbed up to join sophomore Alex Slovic in the top 40.
Vlaski is ranked for the first time this season, grabbing the No. 32 spot while going 7-0 in dual matches this year. Meanwhile, Palmanshofer climbed from his preseason ranking of No. 79 up to a career-high No. 37.
An early season injury caused Slovic to drop in the rankings this week as he slid from No. 9 down to No. 25.
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