University of Oregon
No. 50 Indiana
Ducks Sweep No. 50 Indiana for 10th Win
02/20/16 | Men's Tennis
EUGENE, Ore. -- In a revenge match, the 37th-ranked Oregon men's tennis team came through as they swept No. 50 Indiana, 7-0, Friday night at the Student Tennis Center. The win moves the Ducks to 10-1 on the year and a perfect 6-0 when competing at home.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Ducks grabbed the momentum right away as they took the doubles point behind wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Daan Maasland and Simon Stevens were down 4-2 before they stormed back to take the next four games and win the match 6-4 over Afonso Salgado and Raheel Manji.
At No. 3, Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold were tied at 1-all with Chris Essick and Elliott Yee. The Duck pair then grabbed the next two games and never trailed again, eventually winning 6-4 to clinch their fifth consecutive victory.
In singles, Oregon (10-1) and the Hoosiers (4-4) were locked through the first sets as Indiana won at Nos. 1, 2 and 4 and the Ducks claimed wins at Nos. 3, 5 and 6.
Cormac Clissold put UO up 2-0 as he won in straight sets over Antonio Cembellin. Clissold only trailed once in the match and then was when Cembellin claimed the opening game in the first set. From there, Clissold won six straight to take the set 6-1 and won 6-4 in the second.
Jayson Amos collected his first win at No. 3 this year as he put down Matt McCoy. Amos trailed 4-1 in the opening set and then won 11 straight games to clinch the match, 6-4, 6-0.
Ethan Young-Smith scored the fourth deciding point at No. 6. After he led 4-0 in the opening set his opponent, Afonso Salgado, made things interesting by winning the next three games and coming within one. Young-Smith fought off the Hoosier's momentum and took the next three games to win the set 6-3. In the second set, the two were tied at 4-all when Young-Smith won back-to-back games to take the set, 6-4.
The remaining three matches all went to a deciding third set after the Ducks dropped the first in all of them. Thomas Laurent fell 6-3 in the first at No. 2 to Daniel Bednarczyk and was trailing 3-1 in the second before he rallied and won the next five games to take the set 6-3. Laurent was then dominant in the third as he blanked the Indiana player 6-0.
Daan Maasland fell 6-4 in his first set to 45th-ranked Sam Monette. The senior then bounced back to take a commanding 6-1 win in the second and sealed the match with a 6-4 win in the third.
In the final match, Simon Stevens dropped his opening set to Raheel Manji at No. 4. Stevens was able to tie it up at 3-all in the second and then win back-to-back games to take the lead and eventually win the set 6-3. In the third, Stevens never trailed and put away Manji, 6-2.
WHAT IT MEANS: So far in 2016, the Ducks have avenged two losses that were suffered last year and have done it in commanding fashion. Two weeks ago, UO downed No. 46 Louisville 6-1 at home and tonight's sweep is another big-time win over a ranked opponent. In the six matches that the Ducks have played at home, they are outscoring their opponents 40-2. That is good news for a team that has three more ranked foes coming into Eugene over the next three weeks.
QUOTES:
Head Coach Nils Schyllander:
“There was a great crowd tonight and a great energy in the building. These guys showed that they have a lot of character and we all showed up tonight. It was a good complete-team effort.”
Senior Daan Maasland on his three-set match:
“I didn't play too bad in the first set, but on a couple close points, I went too big and gave him easy points which led to him winning the set. In the second set, I found my way and started to play more aggressive and more of my game. From when it was 1-1 in the second set, I stepped up and the points started going my way and my serve was better.”
UP NEXT: The Ducks will be back in action on Sunday when they host No. 67 Boise State at 11 a.m. at the Student Tennis Center.
