Papé Field has been quiet for almost two months since the Oregon lacrosse team last scored a win against California.

Since then, the Ducks have faced rivals on the road, recording four wins and four losses. They wrapped up their nonconference schedule on Wednesday evening at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia, with a 15-6 loss against No. 19 Virginia.

The Ducks started the match on a high with three shots within the first two minutes. Two of those were contributed by Shannon Williams, who leads the MPSF with 37 goals and 53 points. However, by the first half, Virginia had easily caught up to take the lead, 5-4.

Virginia then took control of the second half starting with a pair of goals within the first minute. Although Oregon squeezed in two goals to narrow the gap, the Cavaliers ultimately dispatched the Ducks with a 6-0 run in the final 11 minutes of the match.

Mariah Gatti’s two goals in the match bring her season total to 30, which ties her for second on the team with Bella Pyne. Senior goalie Becca Katzen matched her career-high with 12 saves. 

The Ducks have a 7-5 overall record and are currently in fourth place (3-1) in the MPSF with four conference games remaining.

Oregon returns to Papé Field on April 7 to host USC at 1 p.m.

Follow Romaine Soh on Twitter @mainetainpls

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The last time the entire Oregon women’s tennis team stood in a line on the neighboring court to cheer on their final player was against Washington last weekend.

That match lasted four hours, with Shweta Sangwan clinching the last point to bring the Ducks to an upset victory over then No. 25 Washington.

The exact same scene played out on Sunday afternoon at the Oregon Student Tennis Center, this time with Alyssa Tobita being the last player standing. And instead of Washington, this time it was the No. 32 USC Trojans on the losing end.

All the other matches had concluded and Oregon was tied with USC 3-3. Tobita’s opponent, No. 38 Jessica Failla, was visibly getting weaker, having to put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. At one moment, she collapsed in the middle of a point.

Tobita, however, was also getting worn out. She compromised two points by hitting the ball into the net, bringing the score in the third set from 5-2 to 5-4.

In the final set, Failla gave up one point when she took too long to serve. She then missed her last two serves, and the rest of Tobita’s teammates rushed the court to envelop her in a group hug as they celebrated the first win of the weekend against a California school.

“Our motto today was ‘Today is our day,’” Tobita, a junior, said. “We’ve always been the underdogs when we play the Cal schools. But that’s what motivates us when we play them. We have nothing to lose.”

Oregon’s 4-3 win against USC, who boasts three ranked singles players, marks the first time they have triumphed over the Trojans, bringing the all-time record to 22-1. With only three positions separating the two teams in the national rankings, it was expected to be a close match all around. In the first set alone, three shootouts were warranted to determine a victor.

Freshman Janvhi Clark returned to the court for the first time since playing against Eastern Washington in late January. She had been wearing a boot due to multiple complications in her ankle, one of which resembled tendonitis, but she was cleared from the boot for two and a half weeks.

This morning, she was notified that she would be playing in the doubles, which came as a pleasant surprise to her.

“It was so cool,” Clark, a New Zealand native, said. “I’ve been working really hard the past few weeks on my mindset and being aggressive.”

Though she only made an appearance in the doubles, pairing up with Nia Rose, her comeback was immediately impactful as they were the first duo to notch a point. Marlou Kluiving and Julia Eshet followed up with a win on their court, putting the Ducks in the lead after the doubles.

“Janvhi’s someone who has always been a great doubles player,” Oregon head coach Alison Silverio said. “We felt today was the right opportunity to put her in and it was something that she deserved. Her instincts right now in doubles are very good. She understands when to make a move. She understands when to be aggressive from the back. She and Nia really complement each other, so it was great to see their chemistry come together in the match today.”

Kluiving was the first to come home with a singles victory, but USC took down Nia Rose, Shweta Sangwan and Daniella Nasser. Eshet tied the score after winning a full three sets against her rival, which left the fate of the match on Tobita’s shoulders.

It was the first time that Tobita had the entire team cheering her on as she faced her final opponent, which she described as a special experience.

“It was really special, especially since last week when we had a moment like that against Washington,” she said. “Knowing how nervous we get watching our teammates and trying to be there for them, it was kinda crazy to be out there myself.”

Tobita’s rival, Faillas, was complaining of stomach issues throughout the match. After the match ended, she was crying as she was carried off the court. Oregon’s celebration quickly quietened down as they gathered their belongings and filed out to the locker room.

With final examinations coming up next week, Tobita said all she wants to do is take a nap before preparing for her first final tomorrow at 8 a.m.

“I wanted to study yesterday, but I was excited for this match,” she said.

The Ducks will face Fresno State on March 29 at Fresno, California.

Follow Romaine Soh on Twitter @mainetainpls

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Much like Friday, California was the first team to score.

Much like Friday, it didn’t matter as Oregon came from behind to emerge with a 2-1 win in its second game of the weekend against the Golden Bears on Saturday afternoon at Jane Saunders Stadium. Oregon still maintains its reputation of being the only undefeated team in the nation with a 26-0 record.

After California scored its first and only run in the first inning, a good half hour passed before the Ducks, who are ranked third in the nation, finally put a run on the board in the fourth inning when Nikki Udria hit a solo homer dead center to the game at 1-1.

“Being down, it sucks,” pitcher Miranda Elish said. “But Nikki came through. She always comes through.”

Oregon scored its go-ahead run in the fifth inning when Danica Mercado landed a triple. Combined with Elish’s efforts of allowing only one run and smacking a double at the plate, the Ducks’ comeback proved a success.

Elish, a freshman, was called on to replace Megan Kleist as the starter for the day because Kleist was not feeling well. Elish ended up triumphing over California pitcher Stephanie Trzcinski.

According to Oregon head coach Mike White, it ended up being a good call.

“Sometimes things happen for a reason, and maybe it was a good reason for that,” White said. “Trzcinski battled really well. She spins it pretty good, so the only ones we hit went really high.”

White said that his team was guilty of overthinking instead of concentrating on the ball in the zone. Although Oregon eventually overcame the early deficit, he did not like being the team trailing.

“I’d much rather be out in front,” he said. “But there’s not much you can do about it sometimes. Sometimes you gotta tip your hat to what the other team’s doing. We have to look back and make adjustments.”

For Elish, the opportunity to be able to bat for her team was surreal. She admitted that she was fumbling with the bat at the plate, but she managed to compose herself.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “You have to make the most of it every time. To be able to bat for my team and hit like that, there’s no better feeling.”

Oregon will play its third and final game of the series Sunday at noon at Jane Saunders Stadium.

View detailed results here.

Follow Romaine Soh on Twitter @mainetainpls

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After the Oregon women’s tennis team booted Washington from the top-25 ITA rankings in an upset victory last weekend, the Ducks had a hard task ahead of them as they faced No. 20 UCLA, the first of the California schools in their Pac-12 schedule, on Friday afternoon at the UO Student Tennis Center.

The Bruins, who boasted two ranked individuals, ultimately proved too hardy for them, taking the Ducks down 4-1. The Bruins swept the doubles matches easily in 6-1 and 6-2. Oregon duo Alyssa Tobita and Shweta Sangwan were tied with their rivals in 4-4, but were unable to finish their match.

In the singles, Oregon scored their lone victory as Daniela Nasser’s opponent retired early due to an upper respiratory virus. UCLA, however, nailed three other victories to earn the win of the day.

The Ducks’s record is 8-6 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

“They punched us in the face a bit with their rackets,” Oregon head coach Alison Silverio said. “We didn’t as a team come back after them and attack. That’s something we’ve been focusing on, attacking when we feel that there’s resistance and feel our opponents coming on us. Today, that’s where I felt as a team, we didn’t do a good enough job.”

Even though UCLA is ranked 15 positions above Oregon, they were still wary of their opponents after Oregon upstaged Washington.

“Coming into this match, we knew that Oregon had a great win against Washington,” UCLA head coach Stella Webster said. “Playing indoors, it’s very loud. We knew that they were gonna be very feisty. I really like their team’s energy and how they came out. It’s always harder to play away than it is where we’re comfortable, especially outside in our sunny California weather.”

Highlighting the match was the close showdown between Sangwan and UCLA’s top bullet, No.3 Ena Shibahara. Though Shibahara had the edge over Sangwan in 5-2, Sangwan launched a comeback that led to a shootout as they tied in 6-6.

“I really wanted to win,” Sangwan said. “I knew I had to take my chances if we wanted to go head-to-head against them. You have to have a consistent mindset no matter if they’re good or bad. I didn’t play her. I just played the ball.”

In the middle of the first set, Sangwan got into a disagreement with the referee about Shibahara celebrating too early. The referee awarded the point to Shibahara anyway.

“You can’t say, “come on” before I get to the ball,” Sangwan said. “But I overcame that setback.”

Sangwan eventually won the first set in 7-6, but by then, UCLA already had the match in the bag as they scored wins on the other courts.

“It would have been great to see her finish that match,” Silverio said.

Oregon will play one more home match against USC on Sunday afternoon at noon.

Follow Romaine Soh on Twitter @mainetainpls

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– Following a record-breaking indoor season where the Oregon track and field women won their seventh title in eight years and broke the team scoring record at the NCAA indoor championships last weekend, Hannah Cunliffe was named the USTFCCCA Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, head coach Robert Johnson picked up his sixth USTFCCCA Division 1 National Coach of the Year award for producing four NCAA champions and assistant coach Curtis Taylor became the first Oregon coach to pick up the USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year award since Johnson was presented with it in 2010.

— After 12 years at the helm of Oregon’s volleyball program, head coach Jim Coach and assistant coach Stacy Metro have both stepped down from their positions, the school announced in a press release Wednesday afternoon.

– Former Oregon volleyball players defended Moore in a letter written to UO President Michael Schill amid accusations that Moore mentally abused his players.

– Oregon hosted its Pro Day on Thursday as football players battled to impress NFL scouts.

– Filling out your March Madness bracket? Here are the latest scores after Thursday’s 1st round matchups.

– The Oregon softball team is all about that “small ball” this year, which basically means get runners on base, bunt or sacrifice to get them to second and third base, and get them to score by any means possible.

– Though Casey Benson is in the shadows most of the time at the start of the match, he is always ready to assume whatever role he is needed in, particularly after Chris Boucher is no longer in the starting lineup.

Follow Romaine Soh on Twitter @mainetainpls

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The Oregon women’s tennis team opened Pac-12 conference play on a good note over weekend as they scored two wins against Washington and Washington State on the rivals’ home turf.

The Ducks’ upset victory over No. 25 Washington at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle, Washington, proved to be the highlight of the weekend as it marked their first victory against a ranked opponent this season. Both pairs of Shweta Sangwan and Alyssa Tobita, and Julia Eshet and Marlou Kluiving, took down their ranked opponents to get an early lead.

Washington, however, was not about to go down without a fight. They struck back in the singles category to take down Kluiving and Tobita, two of the more consistent scorers for the Ducks. It was Rose’s time to shine as she locked in her first singles win since defeating Eastern Washington in January.

“I am extremely proud of the resiliency our team showed,” Oregon head coach Alison Silverio said in a press release following the Ducks’ victory over Washington. “We stayed tough and answered with true grit. Our team deserves to enjoy this victory tonight, but it will be back to work. The process never stops!”

The Ducks proceeded to ride that momentum to a 4-0 victory over Washington State on Sunday morning at the Simmelink Tennis Courts in Pullman, Washington. It was a repeat of Friday afternoon in the doubles category as Eshet and Kluiving, and Sangwan and Tobita won their matches.

Rose remained undefeated over the weekend in singles play, locking in a second win to bring her singles record to 10-12 this season. On top of Tobita and Eshet’s victories, Oregon brought the match to a quick end with Washington State unable to score a point.

“This was a solid weekend of competing for our team,” Silverio said. “We had different individuals step up and finish in both matches. When everyone becomes reliable day in and day out, we create opportunities to be successful. I am grateful for the way they represent our program!”

Oregon returns to their home turf this weekend to face off against UCLA on Friday afternoon and No. 21 USC on Sunday afternoon at the UO Student Tennis Center.

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Will Cheserek quadruple? Will Cheserek become the first male athlete to get the triple?

These were some of the big question marks surrounding Oregon senior Edward Cheserek as he entered the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at College Station, Texas, this past weekend.

At the pre-meet press conference, even Cheserek himself could not testify whether he would be running in four races, saying that he was taking it one at a time.

As it turned out, Cheserek settled for two individual titles, a second place finish and another collegiate record as he earned his 17th individual title, the most in NCAA history.

The first question was answered by the end of the first day as Cheserek did not show in the distance medley, with teammate Blake Haney replacing him as anchor. Oregon finished fourth.

“Just want him to be ready to go for the mile and 3K coming up tomorrow,” Oregon head coach Robert Johnson said in an interview with Flotrack on his decision not to run Cheserek in the DMR.

Earlier, Cheserek had won the 5,000 meters easily in a time of 13 minutes, 41.20 seconds. But he had also run the mile prelim two and a half hours before, and there was only a 30-minute break between the 5,000 meters and the DMR.

On the second day of the championship, the possibility of Cheserek becoming the first man to triple was thrown out the window as New Mexico freshman Josh Kerr became one of the few who earned bragging rights of having dethroned “The King.”

Though Cheserek surged with 600 meters to go, Kerr found an opportunity, struck with 400 meters to go, and left Cheserek in his wake. He could not find the speed to challenge Kerr and slowed down in the final stretch. The 3,000-meter final was two hours after the mile, and Cheserek needed all the energy he could get.

Earlier in the season, Cheserek had set the collegiate record in the mile with his time of 3:52.01, but racing for a fast time is not the focus at championship meets, where the goal is to rack up as many points for the team as possible. For him, it meant spreading out his talents as wide as possible.

Over the span of two days, Cheserek ran the mile twice, a 3,000-meter and a 5,000-meter. That’s almost seven miles of racing.

In the 3,000 meters, Cheserek, who was the second-ranked athlete, ran conservatively and put in a kick at the end to finish first in 7:55.91 and bag his 17th NCAA title.

His wins in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, along with his silver in the mile, saw him contributing 28 of the men’s 38 points that led the Ducks to third in the team standings.

Before the NCAA indoor championships, Cheserek was tied with Suleiman Nyambui for the most number of NCAA titles. Cheserek is now truly in a league of his own with 17 to his name, and he still has an outdoor season to add more trophies to his collection.

Here is a history trail detailing each of Cheserek’s NCAA titles as he ran into the NCAA history books.

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Even before the NCAA Indoor Championships started, the question was not about whether the Oregon women would win, but by how much.

The answer: 33 points. Their total of 84 points shattered the former Division I record of 71 for women’s team points which was previously held by Texas.

While Oregon was nowhere to be seen on the leaderboards as they entered the second day of competition on Saturday evening at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in College Station, Texas, that changed quickly as the Ducks tallied 78 points.

They also produced three individual champions in Hannah Cunliffe (60-meter), Ariana Washington (200m) and Sasha Wallace (60m hurdles).

Even before the final race, the 4×400-meter relay, Oregon had long had the championship in the bag, along with the team score record.

“We came, we saw, we conquered,” Washington, who also claimed a bronze in the 60 meters, said in a trackside interview with ESPN.

It is no secret that Oregon has assembled the best stable of sprinters in the nation this year. They were the only school with three athletes in any sprint event. The sprinters went 1-3-5 in the 60 meters, 1-2 in the 200 meters and 1-8 in the 60 meter-hurdles, picking up 49 points.

If the Oregon sprinters were a team of their own at the NCAAs, they would have finished two points shy of runner-up Georgia. This doesn’t even include Deajah Stevens scoring in the 200-meter final, who was disqualified during the prelim for a lane violation. She had broken the collegiate record before she was removed from the final.

Junior Raevyn Rogers extended her dominance in the 800 meters as she collected her fourth NCAA title over the distance, both indoors and outdoors. Though she entered the meet as the second-ranked athlete, she said that it gave her the underdog feeling to work even more and that she wanted to “win with a really good time.”

Her devastating kick at the bell lap led her to win in a meet record of 2 minutes, 1.09 seconds.

Rogers anchored the 4×400-meter relay. Along with Elexis Guster, Deajah Stevens and Makenzie Dunmore, they beat the previous collegiate record, which was set by another group of Ducks in 2014, with their time of 3:27.07.

However, USC beat them to the line by 0.04 seconds, denying the Ducks the honor of holding another collegiate record.

After anchoring the distance medley team to a bronze yesterday, Katie Rainsberger won her first individual indoor medal with her third place finish in the 3,000 meters. Samantha Nadel was a second behind in fourth and Alli Cash crossed the line in ninth.

With the departure of a huge chunk of talent from last year, most notably hurdler Devon Allen turning pro, the Oregon men had a hard task as they fought to defend their title. Though they were leading by a point entering the final event of the championship, the Ducks were unable to respond as Texas A&M won the 4×400-meter relay, in which Oregon was absent in, and blew past them to win the championship with 46 points. Oregon scored 38 points to place third.

Scoring 28 of those points for the Ducks was senior Edward Cheserek, who continued to build his reputation as the winningest athlete in NCAA history as he brought his total of NCAA titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track accomplishments to 17. Though his attempt at an individual triple (mile, 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters) was derailed in the mile, where he placed second, he came back two hours later and unleashed a kick to propel him to his sixth and final individual indoor title in the 3,000 meters.

Transfer senior Kyree King was the only other male to score on the second day of the championships, finishing sixth in the 60 meters.

This concludes the Ducks’ indoor season. They will kick off their outdoor season on March 30 at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Florida.

View the full results here.

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After the Oregon women’s tennis team endured a 4-2 loss to Denver on Saturday at the Boas Indoor Tennis Center, they came back with a vengeance on Sunday to edge out Boise State by a point with a 4-3 road win on Sunday.

The Duck’s winningest pair of Marlou Kluiving and Julia Eshet picked up their 16th doubles win on Saturday while Daniella Nasser and Nia Rose picked up their 10th win to seal an early lead after the doubles. However, the Pioneers proved too dominant in the singles, scoring four victories compared to Oregon’s one. Kluiving, who had been the first to finish her singles matches the last weekend, was unable to finish her match.

Part of Oregon’s efforts to regroup as they faced host Boise State on Sunday was swapping in Paloma Gomez for Daniella Nasser. The pair of Gomez and Rose were the first to pick up a win in the doubles, followed by the duo of Shweta Sangwan and Alyssa Tobita which guided the Ducks to lock in a two-point advantage before heading into the singles.

Though Gomez fell in her first singles outing this season, Eshet, Kluiving and Sangwan came through to notch a win for the Ducks for their weekend in Idaho.

“I am proud with how the team responded from yesterday,” head coach Alison Silverio said in a press release. “We fought hard and were determined to make it happen. It was a complete team effort and we had a lot of people step up.”

Oregon will take on Washington and Washington State in Seattle and Pullman, Washington, respectively next weekend.

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Tuesday is the longest day of the week for Ashley Maton.

The 23-year-old graduate student from Bend, Oregon, runs morning workouts with the Oregon cross country team before heading straight to Adams Elementary, where she spends three hours in a classroom as a student-teacher.

She switches back to running clothes for a second workout in the afternoon, then heads to a classroom again from 5 to 9 p.m., this time as a student.

Even though Maton’s NCAA eligibility ran out after the 2016 cross country season, she still trains at collegiate intensity and competes when she can. She ran unattached at the Husky Classic on Feb. 11, where she clocked 4 minutes, 35.62 seconds in the mile — faster than every active Duck in the race.

Maton, who graduates in June, is using the year to pursue a master’s degree in education while considering a professional career in running.

“I just want to keep running as long as possible to see where that takes me,” Maton said.

Maton’s collegiate track career came to an abrupt end when she failed to progress past the NCAA West Preliminaries in her pet event, the 1,500 meters. A lightning scare at the meet in Lawrence, Kansas, caused the entire first day of preliminaries to be canceled. All the preliminaries were crammed into the second day, so athletes essentially had just one chance to qualify, and Maton was placed in a faster heat.

She was the fastest runner who didn’t qualify. Maton never got the chance to finish her career on her home turf at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field.

Maton said the inclement weather and unforeseen schedule changes made the race more difficult, and “the prelim became a final.”

Oregon assistant coach Maurica Powell said the abrupt end to her collegiate track career motivated Maton to return for one last cross country season.

“It ended up being a huge silver lining for us because she had, far and away, her best cross country race of her career at the NCAAs,” Powell said.

In Maton’s final cross country season, she placed 61st in the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana. She was the fourth scorer for the Ducks, who eventually emerged champions. Her vast improvement of 51 places from the previous edition earned her recognition from the coaching staff as the women’s most improved runner.

“When I came in as a freshman, I didn’t really have that many expectations,” Maton said. “I was just happy to be on the team. As the years progressed, I got better and better. I feel like this has just been the pinnacle: winning, and with all my teammates together, it was just too much fun.”

With a championship under her belt, Maton has now set her sights on finishing graduate school. An education degree wasn’t on her radar until halfway through her undergrad, when her mother, Michelle Maton, said she began playing the role of “little educator” for her three younger brothers.

“She saw for herself that she could do really well in teaching,” Michelle Maton said. “Since then, she’s been so excited.”

Maton is not actively searching for professional running clubs to join. Her fiancé, former Duck Parker Stinson, runs with Hudson Elite in Boulder, Colorado, but Maton said she is more interested in clubs that focus on middle-distance events. The two will marry in Vancouver, B.C., in August, and the women’s cross country team plans to attend.

Maton isn’t sure whether her new life will guide her toward the track or the classroom, but she’s keeping her options open.

Follow Romaine Soh on Twitter @mainetainpls.

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