University of Oregon
No. 44 Drake
Ducks Narrowly Drop Road Match at Drake
03/22/16 | Men's Tennis
DES MOINES, IOWA – In a two hour and 45 minute match, No. 40 Drake narrowly pulled out a 4-3 victory over the 26th-ranked Ducks Tuesday afternoon at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center. The loss is just the second of the year for Oregon as it boosts a 13-2 record going into conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED: For the ninth straight match, UO clinched the doubles point. Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent made it eight consecutive wins as the duo put away Bayo Philips/Ben Stride 6-2 at No. 3. Daan Maasland and Simon Stevens then secured the point with a 6-2 victory over Vinny Gillespie/Calum MacGeoch at No. 2. The Duck duo is now 13-2 in dual-match play and has won four in a row.
Moving into singles play, the Ducks and Bulldogs were tightly contested. Drake was able to tie the match up at 1-all with a victory at No. 6 as Ethan Young-Smith fell 6-2, 6-1 to Ben Stride. The Ducks then regained the lead as Simon Stevens notched a 6-4. 6-3 win over Bayo Philips at No. 3. Minutes later, Drake tied the match up again as Ben Lott earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Maasland at No. 1.
Cormac Clissold put UO up 3-2 as he came back in the first set to win 7-6 in the tiebreak and then dominated Ben Wood 6-1 in the second set. The Bulldogs tied the match once again as Calum MacGeoch held off a late rally from Jayson Amos to win 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4.
The deciding match then came down to No. 2 where Thomas Laurent came from behind to take the first set 7-5 over Vinny Gillespie. The Bulldog then easily took set two, 6-1, forcing a deciding set. There, Gillespie went up 4-2 before Laurent won three straight to take the 5-4 lead. Gillespie won back-to-back games to regain the lead at 6-5 and go back on serve with the match on the line. Laurent fought tough, but Gillespie held serve winning the set 7-5 and clinching the match for Drake.
It's the first loss for UO since Jan. 24 when the Ducks fell 4-2 at No. 4 Baylor. Oregon won nine straight between Jan. 30-March 12.
UP NEXT: The Ducks will kick off Pac-12 play Friday when No. 6 UCLA visits Eugene. Oregon and the Bruins will get underway at 5 p.m. in the Student Tennis Center.
