The Ducks took on No. 40 Washington in its third-straight match against a ranked team and came away with its fourth-straight lost.

The doubles point was lost by the Ducks in a tiebreaker match between Washington’s Elianne Douglass-Miron and Riko Shimizu and Oregon’s Sofia Hager and Nicole Long.

Oregon’s No. 3 doubles win between Marlou Kluiving/Allie Hueffner and Washington’s Andjela Nemcevic/Jilija Lukac was sizable. The Kluiving/Hueffner combo came away with a 8-3 victory. However, Jasmine Minor and Lina Åkesson weren’t able to hold off Natali Coronel and Grace Ysidora, losing 8-4.

When singles came around, the Ducks didn’t fare any better.

Jasmine Minor logged the only win (6-1, 6-4) for Oregon in the No. 2 match against Grace Ysidora. The win broke Minor’s five-game losing streak.

“It felt good,” Minor said to GoDucks.com about the win. “I actually took a lot of confidence from spring break because my quality of play was getting much better. I definitely got my energy back this week after that nine-day road trip.”

The No. 5 and No. 6 matches both went to Washington as Allie Hueffner and Åkesson lost 3-6, 3-6 and 2-6, 4-6, respectively. However the match which clinched it for Washington was the No. 3 singles. It was there that Julija Lukac defeated Hager 6-4, 6-2.

“I thought we responded pretty well after losing the doubles point in a tiebreaker,” assistant coach Maja Kovacek said of the Ducks’ performance. “We battled for the doubles point which was nice, but it was one of our longest doubles matches lasting about an hour and 40 minutes. We need to be more comfortable playing a couple of spots and we need to be able to put away points to win against good teams.”

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Every Sunday, The Emerald sports staff will collect their favorite quotes from the previous seven days. Athletes, coaches, media or anybody with a quote pertaining to Oregon sports can be included. Below are The Emerald’s favorites from the week of March 31- April 6.

Softball

“I just had to wipe the slate. I just really had to start slowing the game down as I was rushing myself too much, trying to do too many things and just see every pitch.”

– Utility player Kailee Cuico said of her three-run home run which broke the Oregon softball career record for RBIs.

Men’s Tennis

“It’s definitely going to be a void when he’s not on the team. He’s got a lot of charisma, a lot of character and brings a lot of flare to the team. He’s a dynamic personality and someone else needs to step up and fill that role.”

– Head coach Nils Schyllander on Robin Cambier’s last year.

Women’s Lacrosse

“I was most pleased about how everyone stepped up when they needed to, especially the defense. The moments where our defense collapsed, Caroline stepped up when she needed to and made those crucial stops that helped us get the win.”

– Head Coach Jen Beck on Caroline Federighi’s performance which included six saves.

Men’s Lacrosse

“We are definitely about business. Business is first. But at the end of the day, we do it for ourselves and to have fun. We are a good group of guys who mesh well.”

– Senior captain Matt Samet on team dynamic with such a young team.

Baseball

“In eighth grade I was the bat boy for Oregon. I always kind of knew I was going to come here. I looked at other schools, but this just feels right, and I get to see my dad all the time.”

– Catcher Cooper Stiles on how he came to play at Oregon with the rest of his family.

Football

“The kids, they want to do well. They just want direction and if you give them direction, lay it out and give them a clear path, then the good kids will do it and there’s evidence it’s starting to build.”

– Defensive coordinator Don Pellum said in reference to Oregon defense.

“My mentality is still the same. I have to continue to get better. It’s still a competition out here. These guys are going to continue to push me and hopefully I’ll push these guys. As we continue to grow, as a unit, hopefully we can continue to make each other better.”

– Quarterback Marcus Mariota on improving for spring football.

Men’s Basketball

“He has great integrity. He’s a very loyal person, a very hard worker, he’s committed to helping student-athletes succeed and he’s a tremendous student of the game of basketball.”

– Montana State University athletic director Peter Fields on Oregon assistant men’s basketball coach Brian Fish being named head coach of the MSU men’s basketball program.

Club Sports

“As we continue to get better and better, more and more people are going to recognize club baseball and maybe treat us more like a Division 1 team. We’re still a real baseball team.”

– Club Baseball’s senior third baseman Andrew Walzeron on wanting to play in PK Park for home games.

“We can’t go too in-depth in knowledge because we don’t have it. Everything else — like a standard for perfection or the will to do wushu — it’s all there. Each of us helps each other out to push each other to the max or to our limits.”

– Club Wushu captain Kenney Hersch on learning without a coach.

“I happened to sit next to the one guy on the team who was super into triathlons his entire life. He started telling me about his personal trainer, and here I am having never done anything remotely close to a triathlon in my life. I thought, ‘Wow, I shouldn’t be here right now.’”

– Club Triathlon team coordinator Matthew Dracker on the first club meeting he went to sophomore year.

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The wushu club is living out a lot of sports’ worst nightmares. Its members have a dedicated team ready to train, but no coach.

And that’s just the way they like it.

Oregon’s club team is the largest and oldest collegiate wushu club in the nation without a coach. Instead of a coach, the team has student captains who use the members’ collective knowledge to improve. When the club doesn’t know how to do something, they turn to YouTube or reach out to friends and masters at other schools for help. That, or they’ll ask UO wushu alumni who continued to train after graduating.

“I personally think (not having a coach) is a positive thing because it gives us a lot of connections,” social events coordinator Brenda Heng said. “Yes, we’re a team and we compete against other schools, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be friends with those other schools. It really expands our knowledge base. We learn so much more from different people.”

With most members coming into the club without prior martial arts experience, captain Kenney Hersch recognizes that the club’s knowledge base may not be as extensive as a team’s with a coach. However, he believes inexperience is the only major disadvantage to their structure.

“We can’t go too in-depth in knowledge because we don’t have it,” Hersch said. “Everything else — like a standard for perfection or the will to do wushu — it’s all there. Each of us helps each other out to push each other to the max or to our limits.”

The collaboration between members is what makes the group strong, but it comes with a small drawback. Sometimes advice or corrections with form come down to stylistic preferences that differ between members of the club.

“The best thing to do in those kinds of situations is do what feels most comfortable to you,” Heng said. “But if it’s something like your horse stance needs to be lower, that’s something you need to take to heart.”

It’s the freedom to take or leave stylistic critiques that truly differentiates this team from one with a coach.

“Ever since I started training here and without my coaches, I’m beginning to find my own style,” said freshman Elirissa Hui, who previously trained with Phillip Dang, a national team member and UO wushu alumni. “I’m really glad that I’m able to do that instead of having my coach’s style. A lot of people see me do wushu and say, ‘that’s totally Phil’s wushu.’ That’s totally awesome, but I also want to have my own style — my own wushu — instead of someone else’s.”

Overall, it isn’t the freedom from an instructor or the ability to choose how to practice that keeps the group strong and passionate. It’s the people.

“At the end of the day, we’re a competitive club,” Hersch said. “But we wouldn’t have a club if people didn’t come for the sake of each other and to do a little bit of wushu.”

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After a tough loss to No. 12 USC the day before, the Oregon women’s tennis team stayed in Los Angeles for one more day to take on the No. 2 UCLA Bruins. Oregon came away pointless in a 4-0 loss. The match was the last of a nine-day, six-game road trip for the Ducks.

Oregon, facing a No. 1 and No. 5 doubles pair in two of the matches, struggled severely in doubles play.

In the first match, sisters Allie and Kadie Hueffner were defeated by UCLA’s Courtney Dolehide and Chanelle Van Nguyen, 8-2. The sisters’ loss was followed by another for Oregon from Nicole Long and Jasmine Minor. The two did not record a single point against the top-ranked paired of Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady. It was the first time all season that the Long and Minor duo were shutout. The unfinished game was left in favor of UCLA, 6-2.

For singles play, a point immediately went to the Bruins when Sofia Hager defaulted the No. 6 spot.

The Ducks struggled from that point onward. Lina Åkesson lost 6-1, 6-0 to No. 55 Catherine Harrison in No. 4 singles and in a score that mirrored Åkesson’s, Allie Hueffner fell to No. 16 Jennifer Brady in the No. 3 spot. The loss in No. 3 singles clinched the win for the Bruins.

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The road woes continue for Oregon women’s tennis as the team leaves Las Vegas with another loss under their belts. The Ducks took on the University of Nevada Las Vegas and fell 4-1. The Lady Rebels were 7-3 when playing at home in the Fertitta Tennis Complex, but split their season record 7-7. The Ducks are 7-8 on the season and 1-3 in the Pac-12.

Only singles were played at today’s meet.

The No. 1 and No. 2 matches both went to UNLV.

For the No. 1 match, 58th-ranked Lucia Batta defeated Oregon’s Nicole Long 6-4, 6-3. Batta was also named the Mountain West Conference’s reigning player of the week. In the No. 2 singles game, Jasmine Minor fell to Aleksandra Josifoska 6-3 in both sets.

The only victory for Oregon came in the No. 3 singles match where Sofia Hager dominated Iren Kotseva 6-2, 6-0.

Lana Buttner gave UNLV’s Santa Shumilina some trouble in the No. 4 singles, however. Despite falling 6-0 in the first set, she came back in the second despite falling just short of getting the point. Buttner got the match point 6-0, 7-6.

It was the No. 6 game which clinched  the win for the Lady Rebels. Paola Artiga defeated Kadie Hueffner 6-3, 6-3. The final game between UNLV’s Kamelia Dimitrova and Allie Hueffner was suspended 6-4, 2-3 in favor of Dimitrova.

The next meet for the Ducks will be in Los Angeles, Calif. on Friday where they will face off against the No. 12 USC.

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The Ducks returned to Tempe, Ariz. three days after their 4-0 loss to Arizona State to take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. Unlike the match against Arizona State, the Ducks came out on top with a 4-1 victory and swept doubles for the first time since Jan. 26, when they faced Eastern Washington.

The win against NAU was the first of the Ducks’ current nine-game road stint.

In doubles, Marlou Kluiving and Lina Åkesson were the first to topple their NAU opponents. The pair took down Johanna Vang and Sarah Spruch, 8-2.

In a contest similar to the one finished first, Hager and Hueffner defeated Tatum Rochin and Jordan Denesik of NAU, 8-3.

The third and final doubles match went unfinished, but the Ducks led 5-3 when play was suspended.

Oregon nearly swept singles play as well. With exception to Tatum Rochin’s 6-2, 6-1 wins against Oregon’s Kadie Hueffner (and the unfinished match between NAU’s Hailey Rochin and Oregon’s Allie Hueffner), the Ducks were winning match after match.

In the first singles match, Åkesson defeated Spruch for the second time that day (6-2, 6-2). For Åkesson, the win snapped a four-game losing skid. Then after the Rochin vs. Hueffner match, Hager and Denesik faced off again. Hager came away with a dominating 6-3, 6-2 win.

It was the No. 1 singles match that ended Oregon’s time in Tempe. Nicole Long’s 6-3, 6-4 win over Vang clinched the match, giving the Ducks their 4-1 victory.

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After losing 4-0 to the No. 25 Arizona State, the Ducks moved down south to play the University of Arizona (14-1, 3-0 Pac-12) for their second of nine road games. Oregon fell 4-0 to the Wildcats, making them 0-4 on the road this season, excluding neutral matches.

The doubles matches went similarly to those against ASU. Oregon lost two, 8-3 and 8-2. When the third match was suspended, Oregon’s duo of Nicole Long and Jasmine Minor were trailing 7-5 in the third game against Shayne Austin and Lacey Smyth.

The Ducks didn’t fare any better in singles. They came away with no victories, but led two of the unfinished matches.

Oregon’s Jasmine Minor played Arizona’s Kim Stubbe in the first match that completed. Stubbe took home the point 6-0, 6-1. The next match to finish was between Lauren Marker and Oregon’s Sofia Hager, where Marker won 6-3, 6-1.

Smyth and Long faced off again in the final singles match to be completed. Smyth clinched the match for Arizona 6-3, 6-2.

Oregon will now return to Tempe, Ariz. to play Northern Arizona University in their next match.

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This Friday, Oregon women’s tennis lost 4-0 to the No. 25 Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe, Ariz. The game was the first of nine that the Ducks will spend away from home.

In doubles play, ASU came out on top as Joanna Smith and Stephanie Vlad beat Oregon’s Lanna Buttner and Sophia Hager, 8-3. The loss meant the end of the duo’s seven-game win streak. Marlou Kluiving and Lina Åkesson also fell 8-3 to Leighann Sahagun and Alexandra Osborne.

The doubles match between ASU’s Desirae Krawczyk and Kassidy Jump and Oregon’s Nicole Long and Jasmine Minor  was left unfinished, but ASU led 5-4 when play was suspended.

In singles, ASU continued to dominate.

The No. 1 match was won for the Sun Devils 6-4, 6-0. Ebony Panaho was the victor against Åkesson. The No. 2 match had similar results as Buttner fell to Sahagun 6-1, 6-3. The contest was determined by the third singles game to finish. Oregon’s Kadie Hueffner lost 6-2, 6-2 to Gussie O’Sullivan.

There were three singles matches left unfinished, only one which the Ducks led. The match was between Allie Hueffner and Jump.

The Ducks’ next match will come tomorrow in Tucson, Ariz. against the Arizona Wildcats.

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Everyone has different reasons for joining club fencing. Some got into it by chance, some through a friend. Kristen Shafer, however, had very different reasons for fencing.

Because two years ago, Shafer watched the fencing trials in the London Olympics and thought: “I want to try that.”

Because deep down she wanted to be like the Olympians she had watched that day — even though she had never even held a sword.

Because she doesn’t break promises.

After watching the trials, Shafer told her friend of her lofty dream. In response, he — who lived 300 miles away –  mailed her fencing stories cut out from the newspaper and said, one day, that would be her.

“He was the type of person that would believe in people,” she said.

Along with his faith in Shafer, he had a request. He had cancer in his heart and lungs, and asked that she fence if he were to pass. She said she would.

He died six months later.

Although Shafer was serious about what she said at the time, her promise was one she never thought she’d have to keep.

“At first I didn’t really think about it,” Shafer said. “I was like, ‘You’re not going to die. That’s not going to happen. That’s not going to happen any time soon.’ When it actually happened — when he actually passed away — that was when it hit me that I have to do this.”

When Shafer came to the University of Oregon as a freshman this fall she immediately tracked down and joined the fencing club.

Her first day of practice was difficult. In addition to first-day nerves, it was the first time she had ever participated in a bout. Emotions and memories of her late friend flooded back to her and she had to step off the strip to gain her composure.

Even now, her friend is all she thinks about while practicing.

“That’s basically the only thing that runs through my mind when I’m fencing,” Shafer said. “Most people are like, ‘How am I going to parry this attack or what am I going to do next?’ I don’t think about stuff like that, just him.”

The few people in the club who know her story admire Shafer’s dedication to keeping her word.

“It makes me respect her more as a person,” team coordinator Holly Bishop said. “It’s really nice to have that loyalty and to find that in a friend.”

Though Shafer’s journey with the sport may still be at its beginning, the people close to her can’t imagine her quitting anytime soon.

“It’s become a passion for her,” Patti Shafer, Kristen’s mom, said. “And she absolutely loves everybody on the fencing club. She just has so much respect for them.”

Just as love and respect for her friend brought Shafer to the club, love and respect for her team are what will keep her in it for the long run.

“[Coach] Adam and Holly, and everyone on the team, they’re great, great people,” Shafer said. “I have to think that the connections I’ve formed with other people and the relationships are the top reasons I keep fencing.”

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All Jared Gruen planned to do was watch. He never thought he’d actually put on the uniform.

Two months ago, the UO senior came to club a fencing practice to visit his long-time friend, team coordinator Holly Bishop, along his girlfriend Kristen Shafer, who had joined the team in the fall.

“He came to practice one day, and I was like, ‘Jared, go put on a uniform,’” Shafer said.

Gruen resisted at first.

Although he didn’t suit up that day, he made his way to the equipment closet during the following practices, dug out a uniform and entered the practice room.

“I was getting ready to have a lesson with Adam (the coach),” Shafer said. “He (Jared) walked in, had a uniform on, and was like, ‘Are you happy?’ I was ecstatic.”

Even though his first experience as a fencer happened somewhat begrudgingly, Gruen eventually ended up enamored with the sport.

“My girlfriend pestered me to try it,” Gruen said. “Then I thought, ‘Hey, this is kind of fun and it’s good exercise. I can see myself doing this.’”

Gruen added that he has never really been athletic but there was just something about fencing that kept him interested.

“There’s really no other sport that gives you a sword and let’s you duel,” he said.

Casual participation eventually turned into something more and Gruen fostered a desire to improve.

“My personal perspective on it is that if I’m going to be doing this, I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ who’s the worst person in the club,” Gruen said. “I don’t want to be losing every bout. I want to get better at it.”

He’s been making strides. Gruen attends every practice and seeks improvement through one-on-one lessons. Gruen praised his coach, Adam, for his development.

“He (Adam) has a lot of knowledge to offer,” he said. “If I can just learn one thing from him, that’d be great. Just one thing every lesson.”

“At this point, I’d benefit from learning anything,” Gruen said. “With (me) not knowing much, his best judgement — that’s good for me! Whatever he thinks I’d benefit from.”

Gruen says that with lessons and fencing in bouts regularly, he is seeing significant improvement.

“I’ve started winning most of my bouts now and a lot of it comes from how I score the points,” he said.

His eagerness to learn isn’t going unnoticed. Bishop — who typically works with new members — is thrilled that he’s taken an interest in fencing as a sport instead of only the social aspects of being in the club.

“It makes my heart really, really happy when a beginner takes their own initiative and says, ‘Hey, Adam. I want a lesson with you,’” Bishop said. “That just makes me over-the-moon happy. Especially if they do it a couple time a week — that means that they want to become a better fencer and that’s what the club is about.”

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