Saturday, January 28
Austin, TX
TBD
University of Oregon
4
vs
2
Rice
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Ducks Beat Rice, 4-2, to Advance in Austin
01/28/17 | Men's Tennis
OREGON MOVES TO 3-0 AND ADVANCES TO FINAL OF AUSTIN REGIONAL AT ITA KICK-OFF WEEKEND, WILL FACE #9 TEXAS OR DRAKE ON SUNDAY
AUSTIN, Texas - The Oregon men's tennis team moved to 3-0 to start the spring and advanced to the finals of the Austin regional at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend with a 4-2 win over Rice on Saturday morning at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center.
How it Happened: The Ducks (3-0) were forced to play from behind for the second straight match, as Rice (4-2) claimed the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. The Oregon duos of Simon Stevens/Akihiro Tanaka and Cormac Clissold/Thomas Laurent each dropped 6-3 decisions in the second and third doubles spots to give the Owls the early advantage.
Oregon quickly began making up ground in singles play. On the top court, the 33rd-ranked Laurent dominated Rice's Tommy Bennett, 6-1, 6-3, to pull the Ducks even in the match. Stevens gave Oregon a 2-1 advantage after defeating Jamie Malik at No. 2, 6-2, 6-2. Tanaka continued his impressive start to his Oregon career with his third straight singles win, taking down Eric Rutledge, 6-4, 6-2, to extend Oregon's lead to 3-1.
Rice cut the deficit to 3-2 as the Owls' Emanuel Llamas beat the Ducks' Ty Gentry on No. 6 in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Senior Jayson Amos clinched the win for the Ducks for the second straight match, taking down Rice's Jake Hansen on No. 3 in a tightly-contested battle, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3).
What it Means: The Ducks advance to the regional final in Austin and will face No. 9 Texas on Sunday with a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on the line. The Ducks' win continues an impressive start to the spring with another strong singles showing up and down the lineup against a Rice team that is receiving votes in the latest ITA top-25 poll.
Notable: Laurent improved to 13-2 in singles in 2016-17 and 7-0 in his career when playing at No. 1 singles ... Laurent and Clissold suffered a rare loss in doubles, moving their all-time mark together to 22-3 ... Tanaka, a junior transfer from Japan, moved to 3-0 in dual matches to open his collegiate career ... Clissold was leading a tight match on No. 5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-5, when the match was clinched for the Ducks ... Head coach Nils Schyllander recorded his 198th career win as a head coach.
Quotable: Head Coach Nils Schyllander
"We need to be much more assertive in our doubles play; for some reason we are not aggressive enough locating the ball. We need to be chomping at the bit and go for it. However, in singles, we were rock solid against a very tough Rice team. This was an NCAA Tournament type of match and the boys were not going to be denied. This team is showing a lot of character early in the season."
Up Next: The Ducks will face either No. 9 Texas and Drake (Sat., 11 a.m. PT) on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.
How it Happened: The Ducks (3-0) were forced to play from behind for the second straight match, as Rice (4-2) claimed the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. The Oregon duos of Simon Stevens/Akihiro Tanaka and Cormac Clissold/Thomas Laurent each dropped 6-3 decisions in the second and third doubles spots to give the Owls the early advantage.
Oregon quickly began making up ground in singles play. On the top court, the 33rd-ranked Laurent dominated Rice's Tommy Bennett, 6-1, 6-3, to pull the Ducks even in the match. Stevens gave Oregon a 2-1 advantage after defeating Jamie Malik at No. 2, 6-2, 6-2. Tanaka continued his impressive start to his Oregon career with his third straight singles win, taking down Eric Rutledge, 6-4, 6-2, to extend Oregon's lead to 3-1.
Rice cut the deficit to 3-2 as the Owls' Emanuel Llamas beat the Ducks' Ty Gentry on No. 6 in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Senior Jayson Amos clinched the win for the Ducks for the second straight match, taking down Rice's Jake Hansen on No. 3 in a tightly-contested battle, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3).
What it Means: The Ducks advance to the regional final in Austin and will face No. 9 Texas on Sunday with a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on the line. The Ducks' win continues an impressive start to the spring with another strong singles showing up and down the lineup against a Rice team that is receiving votes in the latest ITA top-25 poll.
Notable: Laurent improved to 13-2 in singles in 2016-17 and 7-0 in his career when playing at No. 1 singles ... Laurent and Clissold suffered a rare loss in doubles, moving their all-time mark together to 22-3 ... Tanaka, a junior transfer from Japan, moved to 3-0 in dual matches to open his collegiate career ... Clissold was leading a tight match on No. 5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-5, when the match was clinched for the Ducks ... Head coach Nils Schyllander recorded his 198th career win as a head coach.
Quotable: Head Coach Nils Schyllander
"We need to be much more assertive in our doubles play; for some reason we are not aggressive enough locating the ball. We need to be chomping at the bit and go for it. However, in singles, we were rock solid against a very tough Rice team. This was an NCAA Tournament type of match and the boys were not going to be denied. This team is showing a lot of character early in the season."
Up Next: The Ducks will face either No. 9 Texas and Drake (Sat., 11 a.m. PT) on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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