Ducks Survive San Francisco 4-3

Saturday, March 28

Eugene, Ore.

1 p.m.

University of Oregon

San Francisco

Photo by: GoDucks.com

03/28/09 | Men's Tennis

By: GoDucks.com

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon men's tennis team pulled out a riveting 4-3 win over San Francisco on Saturday afternoon at the Student Tennis Center. Singles was played first with the hope of the match being decided there but with the score knotted up 3-3, the doubles session was needed and the Ducks snagged the victory with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.

Singles was played first because USF had a tight travel schedule with a flight from Portland Saturday night they were hoping to catch.

Oregon improved to 9-9 on the season while San Francisco fell to 4-10.

The Ducks earned wins in singles play from Alexander Cornelissen (6-2, 6-3 at No. 2), Mike Myrhed (6-3, 7-5 at No. 6) and Sho Higuchi (3-6, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5) but it was their doubles effort that gave them the victory.

Cornelissen and Marcos Verdasco steamrolled their way to an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles to set the tone. The duo improved to 11-7 this season in duals play. Duncan MacDonald-Korth and Myrhed put the match away with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles. They were leading by just one at 5-4 but won three straight points to get the victory. MacDonald-Korth's huge serves in the final game proved to be deadly as the Ducks won a very entertaining match at the STC.

The Ducks hit the road next week when they travel to the state of the California to play Cal Poly, UCLA and USC in consecutive days.

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

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The Oregon men's tennis team is back inside at the Student Tennis Center to take on the San Francisco Dons this afternoon in a non-conference dual. Admission is free to the match but if can't make it to the STC behind McArthur Court, you can catch all the action here in the GoDucks.com live blog.

Oregon and USF will get underway in just over 20 minutes but due to the Dons' tight travel schedule, we will start with singles play. Only if the score is tied 3-3 after singles will the doubles session be played. UPDATE: Doubles is being played, scroll down to the bottom for live scores.

SINGLES

No. 1 - UO Marcos Verdasco vs. USF Tommy Tu (SAN FRANCISCO WINS, 6-3, 6-1)

1:18 - Tied up 1-1 in the first set ... 1:23 - Still locked up at 2-2 ... 1:45 - The match at center court has slowed down with just three games played in the last 20 minutes but Tu has taken advantage and now leads 4-3 ... 1:47 - Now a 5-3 lead for Tu and USF ... 1:51 - Tu wins the first set, 6-3 ... 2:01 - Going back to the first set, Tu has won six straight games as he leads 3-0 in the second set ... 2:11 - Marcos on the board in the second but Tu leads 4-1 ... 2:19 - Tu takes the match, 6-3, 6-1.

No. 2 - UO Alexander Cornelissen vs. USF Rainer Nachbauer (OREGON WINS, 6-2, 6-2)

1:19 - Alex leads 2-1 to start ... 1:29 - Alex holding on to his one game lead, up 3-2 now on court two ... 1:36 - Alex rolling, up 5-2 ... 1:44 - Alex locks down the first set, winning 6-2 ... 1:46 - Alex up 1-0 to start the second set ... 1:55 - Alex up 2-1 ... 2:03 - The pair split the next two games, Alex still up by one, 3-2, in the second set ... 2:10 - Alex up 5-2, in position to be the first match winner of the day ... 2:17 - Alex takes it, 6-2, 6-2.

No. 3 - UO Ric Mortera vs. USF Asaf Cohen (SAN FRANCISCO WINS, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1)

1:18 - Ric leads 1-0 in the first set ... 1:24 - Back-to-back wins for Cohen, he leads 2-1 ... 1:29 - Ric matches with two straight wins of his own, up 3-2 ... 1:46 - Tied up again at 4-4 ... 1:47 - Ric jumps back ahead, up 5-4 ... 1:53- Ric takes the first set 6-4 ... 2:05 - Ric keeps it up, wins the first game of the second set, leads 1-0 ... 2:18 - Cohen with an early lead in the second set, 2-1 ... 2:20 - Ric ties it up 2-2 ... 2:29 - Still tied, 3-3 ... 2:38 - Cohen leads 5-3 and up 30-love ... 2:43 - Asaf wins the second set for USF, 6-3 ... 2:50 - Ric is struggling and Cohen has been very accurate as of late and USF leads 2-0 to start the third set ... 2:51 - Cohen sweeps to a 3-0 lead ... 2:55 - Ric on the board in the third set, Cohen leads 3-1 ... 3:03 - Cohen leads 5-1 in the third set ... 3:06 - Match point for Cohen ... 3:08 - Mortera delays it but with the advantage, Cohen ices the match and wins 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

No. 4 - UO Jose' Izquierdo vs. USF Einar Hart (SAN FRANCISCO WINS, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4)

1:18 - Jose' up 2-1 on Einar ... 1:29 - Jose' pulling away in the first set, up 4-1 ... 1:35 - Einar reverses course, wins two straight to cut the Oregon lead to just one game, Jose' leads 4-3 ... 1:45 - The rally continues for Einar as he now leads 5-4 ... 1:51 - In what is looking like a critical match, Izquierdo has stormed back to a 6-5 lead ... 1:57 - Locked up 6-6 on court one ... 2:02 - Jose' leads 4-2 in the tiebreaker ... 2:05 - Knotted up 5-5 in the tiebreaker ... 2:06 - Jose' wins the tiebreaker 7-5 to take the first set for the Ducks, 7-6 ... 2:21 - This match remains the tightest of the day, with Hart up 2-1 in the second set ... 2:31 - Back-to-back winners has Izquierdo on top 3-2 ... 2:33 - The match lead has swung again, with Hart up 4-3 ... 2:47 - Both players win with their serves and Hart stays on top 5-4 ... 2:51 - Hart takes the second set 6-4 and a third set is underway ... 3:10 - Serve holding early in the third set as Hart leads 2-1 ... 3:14 - Two consecutive aces leads Jose' to the win and ties it up 2-2 ... 3:17 - Break point and Jose' steals one from Einar and he takes a 3-2 lead for the Ducks ... 3:22 - Einar breaks Jose' right back and its tied up 3-3 ... 3:25 - Hart jumps ahead 4-3 ... 3:31 - Hart takes another game, leads 5-3 and has the serve ... 3:38 - Jose' stays alive by breaking Einar - USF leads 5-4 and Jose' has the serve but that might not be a good thing as he has been broken the last two times ... 3:40 - Hart up 30-love quickly with two great returns ... 3:42 - Deuce ... 3:47 - Hart wins 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 and we will be playing doubles.

No. 5 - UO Sho Higuchi vs. USF Jacob Hartwig (OREGON WINS, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2)

1:09 - Hartwig with the first winner of the day, USF up 1-0 ... 1:18 - Sho has evened up 2-2 ... 1:30 - Still tied up, 3-3 ... 1:44 - Three straight wins for Hartwig gives him the first set, 6-3 ... 1:52 - Sho grabbed the first game of the second set to take a 1-0 lead ... 1:58 - Sho is building a nice lead in the second set, up 3-0 ... 2:01 - A 4-0 lead now for Sho and the Ducks in the second set ... 2:05 - Hartwig finally on the board in the second set, Higuchi still leads 4-1 ... 2:18 - Sho on top 5-2 ... 2:25 - Sho takes the second set 6-2 ... 2:30 - Sho leads 1-0 in the third set ... 2:32 - Make that a 2-0 lead for Sho with him back on serve ... 2:36 - An amazing turn around by Sho since the first set - since the start of the second set Sho has won nine of 11 games and leads 3-0 in the third set ... 2:43 - Hartwig on the board but Sho still leads 3-1 and has the serve ... 2:47 - Two straight wins has Hartwig back in, Higuchi lead is now just one, 3-2 ... 2:52 - A back-and-forth game has both players with the advantage on multiple occasions but Higuchi wins it and takes a 4-2 lead ... 2:56 - Another winner for Sho, he's up 5-2 and looking to close out the match ... 3:01 - Sho takes the match, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

No. 6 - UO Mike Myrhed vs. USF Mitch del Rosario (OREGON WINS, 6-3, 7-5)

1:10 - Mike is up 1-0 on Mitch in the early going ... 1:23 - Myrhed still leads, now at 2-1 ... 1:30 - Mike maintaining his one game lead, up 3-2 ... 1:41 - Myrhed up 5-2 and looking to close out the first set ... 1:46 - It takes two games but Mike wins the first set for Oregon, 6-3 ... 1:55 - Mike keeps the momentum, up 1-0 in the second set ... 2:07 - Mike up 2-1 in the second set ... 2:20 - del Rosario has his first lead in either set, up 4-3 in the second set ... 2:30 - Tied up 5-5 ... 2:34 - Mike back in the lead, up 6-5 ... 2:37 - Myrhed puts the Ducks up 2-1 with a 6-3, 7-5 at No. 6 singles.

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

Tied up 3-3 heading into doubles play...

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DOUBLES

No. 1 UO Verdasco/Cornelissen vs. USF Tu/Cohen (OREGON WINS, 8-2)

4:11 - Ducks up 2-0 in a hurry ... 4:15 - Ducks up 3-0 ... 4:19 - Ducks dominating, up 4-0 ... 4:23 - Oregon up big 5-0 ... 4:27 - Can they be stopped? Oregon up 6-0 ... 4:31 - I hope I didn't jinx them - USF on the board, Ducks still lead 6-1 ... 4:37 - Phew, didn't jinx them, Oregon up 7-1 and looking to close it out ...4:45 - Match point ... 4:45 - Ducks win 8-2.

No. 2 UO MacDonald-Korth/Myrhed vs. USF Ching/Del Rosario (OREGON WINS, 8-4)

4:10 - Tied up 1-1 ... 4:15 - USF leading 2-1 but DMK is on the serve ... 4:19 - Tied up 2-2 ... 4:25 - USF back on top 3-2 ... 4:27 - Tied up once again, 3-3 ... 4:30 - 4-3 lead for the Ducks ... 4:34 - Ducks up 5-3 in what is looking like the deciding match of doubles ... 4:37 - USF cuts the UO lead back to one, Ducks lead 5-4 ... 4:38 - Duncan looking very strong at the net ...4:44 - It got dicey, but Oregon wins with Mike on the serve and they are back up two, 6-4 ... 4:46 - Ducks pulling away, 7-4 ... 4:49 - Big "Diesel" Duncan with four huge serves puts it away for the Ducks, as they win the match 8-4 and the dual 4-3.

No. 3 UO Izquierdo/Mortera vs. USF Nachbauer/Hart (SAN FRANCISCO WINS, 8-2)

4:08 - USF wins the first game, up 1-0 ... 4:16 - 2-0 lead for USF ... 4:19 - Ducks on the board, USF leads 2-1 ... 4:21 - 3-1 lead for USF ... 4:25 - USF up 4-1 on the far court ... 4:31 - 5-1 USF ... 4:36 - USF playing great, leading 6-1 ... 4:48 - 7-1 lead for USF ... 4:55 - USF wins it 8-2.

Order of finish: 1, 2*, 3