University of Oregon
Washington
No. 71 Men?s Tennis Drops Heartbreaker to No. 27 UW, 4-3
02/25/12 | Men's Tennis
EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 71 ranked University of Oregon men's tennis team fell to the No. 27 ranked Washington Huskies 4-3 Friday evening (Feb. 24) in front of a packed crowd at the Student Tennis Center. A crowd of over 300 helped to cheer on the underdog Ducks who took the No. 27 ranked team in the nation down to the last match. The loss drops the Ducks to 8-1 for the spring.
"Obviously, we feel pretty empty right now," remarked men's head coach Nils Schyllander. "We battled one of the premier teams in the country down to the wire and didn't go away. It tells me where we are instead of where we've been."
In doubles, the Ducks were able to secure the first dual point in large part to Jeff Mullen and Robin Cambier's dominant performance at No.1 doubles. The Oregon tandem was able to blank the Washington doubles team consisting of Kyle McMorrow and Viktor Farkas, 8-0. After a loss at No. 3 doubles, the Ducks needed Alex Rovello and Jose Izquierdo to come up big to secure the point. The Oregon duo rallied to a lead at 8-7 before ultimately defeating Jeff Hawke and Max Manthou 9-7. The doubles point would end up being a crucial component to the dual, forcing the last three singles matches to be completed under heavy pressure.
"We came out and did a great job in the doubles," said coach Schyllander. "All season long we've been playing with great aggression in doubles and it was nothing different today."
The Huskies responded in singles by jumping out to a 3-1 lead behind the play of the No. 9 ranked singles player in the nation in McMorrow. McMorrow defeated previously unbeaten and No. 122 ranked Rovello 6-1, 6-2. Facing a loss, the Ducks rallied behind wins from Mullen and Cambier at No.2 and 3 singles, respectively. Mullen downed Washington's Emmett Egger 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 while Cambier defeated Washington's Marton Bots 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Both three-set victories were after dropping the first set. The Ducks showed incredible poise and perseverance in extended the dual to the sixth and final singles match.
The dual came down to a pair of freshman; Daniel Sardu and Viktor Farkas. An early first-set lead for Sardu evaporated when Farkas was able to force a tiebreak in the second set. Ultimately it was Farkas carrying momentum into the third and final set after winning the tiebreak and taking the set 7-6. Down 3-2 in the third, Farkas battled at serve with Sardu exchanging in a series of rallies that had the fans at the STC holding their collective breath. Nine times the game went to deuce with Farkas battling off four different break points for Sardu. The game tied the third set at three and Farkas didn't look back. The match ended with Farkas defeating Sardu 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.
The dual with the Huskies marks the first time that the Ducks have been within one point of the victory since 2008 when Washington defeated Oregon 4-3 on Feb. 29 in Eugene.
The Ducks return to the Student Tennis Center on Sunday (Feb. 26) at 10 a.m. to take on the No. 54 ranked UC Irvine Anteaters. UC Irvine will play the Huskies in a neutral site match tomorrow (Feb. 25) at the Student Tennis Center at 2 p.m.
"Hopefully we can bounce back and take the positives from this and realize how good we really are.
Players Mentioned
