Though football had a bye week, other Oregon teams excelled over the weekend. With away games for soccer, women’s tennis, men’s tennis and cross country and two home games for volleyball, the Ducks continue to wrap up the season. Here is a look at how the teams played this weekend.
Soccer:
Soccer headed to Los Angeles to take on USC for one of the last few games of the season. They fell to the Trojans 2-1 in overtime after falling out in the last-minute as USC scored the final goal at the 99th minute of the game. Friday’s loss, goalkeeper Abby Steele had a season-high nine saves and Kristen Parr took her third goal of the season. On Sunday, Oregon failed to upset No. 2 UCLA, as the Bruins claimed the Pac-12 title with the 2-0 win. The Ducks are now 0-5 on the road in comparison to their 1-7 road record last season. The team will play in their final game of the season against Oregon State on Thursday.
Volleyball:
The No. 23-ranked Ducks took on two teams this weekend, hosting Arizona State on Friday and Arizona on Saturday. The team took the 1-3 loss to the Sun Devils first and followed with a 3-2 victory over the Wildcats. In Friday’s matchup, Oregon appeared headed toward a win with a hitting mark of .319 — the team is 7-0 when having at least a .300 hitting mark — however, the team still struggled in the four sets with scores of 25-23, 21-25, 25-19 and 25-15. Against the Wildcats, the Ducks won in five sets. Liz Brenner completed her fourth straight double-double, accumulating 28 kills and 19 digs. Oregon still has eight regular season games remaining.
Tennis:
The women’s tennis team traveled to Fresno, Calif., for the Bulldog Classic while the men’s tennis team participated in the Easley Memorial Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. The Bulldog Classic and the Easley Memorial Classic were weekend events, with the Ducks playing all three days. On Friday, the women’s team went 4-7 in singles play and 1-1 in doubles. For the men’s tennis team’s first matchup, three singles players and two double teams moved on to the semifinals on Saturday. One of them was sophomore Kevin Farin, who defeated the No. 76 player in the nation, Ace Matias, of UNLV. Matias took the first set and Farin settled the score to force a tie-breaker. In the final set, Farin claimed the win with a score of 7-6. Farin then beat Auburn’s Lukas Ollert, the No. 75-ranked player in the semifinals Saturday, winning both sets with ease. Farin is now 7-2 for the start of the season. The men’s team will face Portland State to open the regular season on Jan. 17 and the women’s team will take on South Carolina Upstate on Jan. 24.
Cross country:
The No. 4 ranked cross country team competed in the Pac-12 championships Saturday, finishing second with 54 points, a bit behind Colorado, which took first with 28 points. The No. 12-ranked women’s cross country team finished fourth. Freshman Edward Cheserek stole the spotlight of the championships, making him the first freshman to ever claim a cross country Pac-12 championship title. Cheserek came in first with a time of 24:56. For the women, Megan Patrignelli led the way for the Ducks in the 6,000-meter at 22:18. Oregon is now preparing for the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 15.
Follow Lindsey Tucker on Twitter @lindseyetucker