Oregon Falls to No. 41 New Mexico, 5-2

Sunday, February 8

Eugene, Ore.

2:30 p.m.

University of Oregon

New Mexico

Photo by: GoDucks.com

02/09/09 | Men's Tennis

By: GoDucks.com

EUGENE, Ore. - Alexander Cornelissen rallied from a first set loss to defeat a ranked foe in singles play but the Ducks could not do the same as a team, and lost 5-2 to No. 41 ranked New Mexico on Sunday night at the Student Tennis Center.

New Mexico (5-1) took the doubles point with two out of three matches and secured the victory by winning at No. 1, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 singles but that didn't matter for two Ducks, who won inspired matches with the match won for UNM.

Jose' Izquierdo dropped his first set 6-1 but didn't not surrender and took the next two sets to win 1-6, 6-4, 12-10.

The best match was also the last two finish as Cornelissen and No. 86 ranked Graeme Kassautzki battled all the way to a third set tiebreaker. Kassautzki won the first set 6-3 but Cornelissen took the second frame 6-3 before winning the third set in a 7-4 tiebreaker. Cornelissen took the match 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

The Ducks (5-3) fell for the first two times at home this weekend with losses to No. 60 UC Santa Barbara and No. 41 New Mexico. Oregon will hit the road for the just the second time this season, playing both Arkansas and Wichita State in Fayetteville, Ark.

Please see the transcript of the live blog below for full results and match commentary.

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The Oregon men's tennis team's dual against No. 41 New Mexico is underway at the Student Tennis Center and you can follow all the action here at real time in the GoDucks.com live blog.

Oregon enters this dual with a record of 5-2 after losing in heartbreaking fashion on Friday night to No. 60 UC Santa Barbara. New Mexico comes in as the No. 41 ranked squad in the nation with a record of 4-1 after sweeping UCSB 7-0 on Saturday here in Eugene. This match has a little more intrigue than normal as former Oregon assistant coach Bart Scott is on the sidelines wearing red today as he took the same position with the UNM, his alma mater.

Enough pregame filler, let's get on to the matches where the Ducks are rocking all white unis and the Lobos have red tops with white bottoms.

DOUBLES:

No. 1 UO Marcos Verdasco/Alexander Cornelissen vs. UNM Johnny Parkes/Miles Bugby (NEW MEXICO WINS, 8-5)

2:45 - Oregon grabs the first game of this match, up 1-0 ... 2:48 - Locked up 1-1 ... 2:49 - Still tied up, 2-2 ... 3:02 - Serve is still holding, Oregon up 3-2 ... 3:06 - With its serve, UNM wins and ties it 3-3 ... 3:09 - First broken serve of the match and UNM steals one, leads for the first time at 4-3 ... 3:22 - Oregon drops two of the last three games and New Mexico leads 6-4 ... 3:24 - Now 7-4 in favor of the Lobos ... 3:34 - That does it for the doubles point, New Mexico takes it after Parkes and Bugby win 8-5.

No. 2 UO Ric Mortera/Duncan MacDonald-Korth vs. UNM Joe Wood/Graeme Kassautzki (NEW MEXICO WINS, 8-5)

2:44 - Wood and Kassautzki have jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Ducks ... 2:47 - Mortera and DMK on the board as a they break UNM's serve, Lobos lead 2-1 ... 2:51 - UNM breaks Oregon right back, up 3-1 as the serving side has won a game just once in the first four ... 2:58 - Oregon gets a game behind DMK's serve but UNM grabs one as well, Lobos lead 4-2 ... 3:01 - Ducks try to flop a shot over the top of the Lobos who are playing at the net but it sails long and UNM takes the game, leads 5-2 ... 3:04 - Oregon protects its serve, Lobos lead by two, 5-3 ... 3:07 - UNM wins another one, looking good with a 6-3 lead ... 3:13 - 7-3 lead for UNM ... 3:21 - Ric and Duncan win back-to-back games for the first time in the match, UNM leads 7-5 ... 3:23 - Match point ... 3:26 - Ducks push off match point twice, deuce ... 3:27 - An ace gives UNM the advantage ... 3:28 - New Mexico takes it, 8-5.

No. 3 UO Ayrton Wibowo/Jose' Izquierdo vs. UNM Ben Dunbar/Elliot Chang (OREGON WINS, 8-6)

2:45 - Dunbar and Chang with the winner on court six, UNM up 1-0 ... 2:47 - UNM up 2-0 ... 2:50 - Oregon's all-freshmen squad is struggling, down 3-0 to Dunbar and Chang ... 2:53 - Oregon on the board, down 3-1 ... 2:59 - Another winner for the Ducks, Lobos lead 3-2 ... 3:00 - 4-2 New Mexico ... 3:03 - Lobos win back-to-back games to stop Oregon's rally, lead 5-2 ... 3:14 - Oregon and New Mexico split a pair of games, UNM leads 6-3 ... 3:20 - It's getting tight on the far court where the Ducks have cut the UNM lead to just one at 6-5 and have the serve ... 3:23 - Oregon's rally continues and they tie it up 6-6 ... 3:32 - Ducks take their first lead, up 7-6 ... 3:42 - A big time comeback for the Ducks but its all for naught as the Lobos locked down the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2.

Order of finish: 2, 1*, 3

New Mexico takes the doubles point and the Ducks will need to capture four of the six singles matches to win tonight ...

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SINGLES

No. 1 UO Marcos Verdasco vs. UNM Johnny Parkes (NEW MEXICO WINS, 6-3, 6-0)

4:04 - Parkes takes the first game of this match ... 4:09 - Verdasco evens it at 1-1 ... 4:19 - Slow and steady at center court, tied up 2-2 ... 4:39 - After a slow start, Parkes wins four of five games to take the first set, 6-3 ... 4:57 - Parkes wins the first four games of the second set, 4-0 ... 5:00 - Verdasco down 5-0 in the second set ... 5:03 - 6-3, 6-0 win for Parkes at No. 1 singles.

No. 2 UO Alexander Cornelissen vs. UNM #87 Graeme Kassautzki (OREGON WINS, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4))

4:04 - It's even 1-1 at No. 2 singles ... 4:10 - Kassautzki leads 2-1 ... 4:13 - Kassautzki grabs another pair of games, leads 4-1 ... 4:19 - Cornelissen moves the score closer, 4-2 lead for UNM ... 4:29 - A 5-2 lead for Kassautzki in the first set ... 4:37 - UNM wins the first set, 6-3 ... Kasszutzki leads 2-1 to start the second set ... 4:52 - Cornelissen ties it up, 2-2 ... 4:57 - Cornelissen up 3-2 ... 5:01 - Alex battling back and leads 5-2 in the second set ... 5:12 - Alex takes the second set 6-3 and forces a third ... 5:13 - The Lobos may have won the match but Cornelissen still has much to play for as a win would be the second in the junior's career over a ranked foe (first was against Denver's No. 83 ranked David Simson on Mar. 8, 2008) ... 5:19 - Cornelissen down 2-1 to start the third set ... 5:24 - Alex ties it up 2-2 in the third set ... 5:35 - Tied up 3-3 ... 5:38 - Serve is holding in the third set, tied 4-4 with Kazzautzki in serve ... 5:41 - UNM holds serve, up 5-4 ... 5:46 - Alex evens the match on his serve, 5-5 ... 5:49 - UNM up 6-5 ... 5:56 - Cornelissen ties it up 6-6 and Kassautzi has the serve to start the tiebreaker ... 5:57 - Despite breaking a string on his racket in the middle of the point, Alex wins the volley and takes the first point of the tiebreaker ... 5:59 - Alex up 4-2 in the tiebreaker ... 6:03 - Match point for Alex ... 6:04 - And he takes it, knocking off a ranked foe for the second time in his career, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

No. 3 UO Ayrton Wibowo vs. UNM Miles Bugby (NEW MEXICO WINS, 6-1, 6-2)

4:04 - Wibowo is down 1-0 to start but has the serve ... 4:13 - Two more winners for Bugby and he leads 3-0 ... 4:19 - Wibowo gets on the board but Bugby wins another game as well, UNM leads 4-1 ... 4:28 - Bugby takes the first set, 6-1 ... 4:51 - Bugby up 2-1 in the second set ... Bugby leads 4-1 on Wibowo ... 5:05 - Bugby takes the match 6-1, 6-2.

No. 4 UO Jose' Izquierdo vs. UNM Ben Dunbar (OREGON WINS, 1-6, 6-4, 12-10)

4:05 - Pepe' is down 1-0 to start the match ... 4:14 - Izzy and Dunbar split the next two games, 2-1 lead for UNM ... 4:32 - Dunbar wins the first set 6-1 ... 4:48 - Dunbar takes the first three games in the second set but Jose' gets on the board in the fourth, 3-1 ... 4:58 - Jose' closes it to 3-2 lead for UNM ... 5:16 - Izquierdo takes the second set, 6-4, to force a third frame, in the form of a 10-point tiebreaker ... 5:21 - Dunbar up 5-2 to start the tiebreaker ... 5:26 - Tiebreaker sits at 8-6 in favor of Dunbar and UNM ... 5:27 - A great volley but Jose' ties it up 8-8 ... 5:28 - 9-8 Izquierdo leads ... 5:32 - A huge ace give Pepe' the 12-10 win the shortened third set.

No. 5 UO Ric Mortera vs. UNM Elliot Chang (NEW MEXICO WINS, 6-3, 7-5)

4:05 - This match is the fastest moving of the group as Chang leads 2-1 ... 4:09 - Two more quick winners for Chang and he leads Mortera 4-1 ... 4:14 - Ric answers with a win of his own, still down 4-2 to Chang ... 4:18 - Chang grabs another game, up 5-2 ... 4:25 - A 6-2 winner for Chang in the first set ... 4:51 - Mortera up 4-3 in the second set ... 5:01 - Ric leads 5-4 ... 5:05 - A closing rally by Chang puts him ahead 6-5 ... 5:10 - Chang takes the match and the dual for New Mexico, 6-3, 7-5.

No. 6 UO Duncan MacDonald-Korth vs. UNM Phillip Anderson (NEW MEXICO WINS, 6-3, 6-4)

3:55 - Anderson takes the first games of the singles session ... 4:05 - Back-and-forth it goes as the serve holds, Anderson up 2-1 ... 4:09 - DMK protects his serve, tied again 2-2 ... 4:14 - 3-2 lead for Anderson as the pair continue to alternate wins ... 4:20 - Anderson wins the first break point and leads 5-2 ... 4:28 - A 6-3 win for Anderson in the first set ... 4:50 - DMK and Anderson tied up 2-2 in the second set ... 5:02 - Still tied, 3-3 ... 5:14 - Anderson wins the match, 6-3, 6-4.

Order of finish: 1, 3, 5*, 6, 4, 2