University of Oregon
Washington
Ducks Down Dawgs in Regular-Season Finale
04/22/17 | Men's Tennis
OREGON DEFEATED WASHINGTON, 4-2, ON SATURDAY TO FINISH THE REGULAR SEASON AT 18-5 AND 4-3 IN PAC-12 PLAY; THE DUCKS WILL BE THE NO. 4 SEED IN THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS AND WILL RECEIVE A FIRST-ROUND BYE
EUGENE, Ore. - The 22nd-ranked Oregon men's tennis team capped a terrific regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 4-2 win over No. 41 Washington on the outdoor courts at the Student Tennis Center.
The Ducks (18-5, 4-3 Pac-12) finish the regular season with a pair of wins over ranked teams after beating No. 15 Stanford last Sunday, and now turn their sights to the Pac-12 Championships, which begin on Wednesday in Ojai, Calif. With Oregon's win and Stanford's loss to California on Saturday, the Ducks will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will receive a first-round bye.
How it Happened: After the match was delayed about 80 minutes due to rain, the Ducks rebounded from dropping the doubles point in their last two matches to take the early 1-0 lead over the Huskies (12-10, 1-6). Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent won, 6-3, at the top court, and the pair of Simon Stevens and Akihiro Tanaka clinched the point with a 6-4 victory on the third court.
In singles, senior Jayson Amos extended the Oregon lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 4 in his final regular-season home match. Shortly after being honored for a storied Oregon career that has seen him break the UO all-time wins record, Amos defeated UW's Enzo Sommer, 6-2, 6-2, to build on that record with his 92nd career singles victory.
Laurent, ranked 24th in the nation in singles, defeated 92nd-ranked Mitch Stewart (UW) at the top singles spot, 6-4, 6-1, to make it 3-0, Ducks. Laurent won his 29th singles match of the year to extend the UO single-season record he broke last weekend.
Washington would begin to mount a comeback with a pair of singles victories. Gal Hakak defeated Tanaka at No. 3, 7-5, 6-4, and Jake Douglas rebounded from a first-set loss at No. 2 to beat Stevens, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, and make it 3-2, Oregon.
After a couple of match points at No. 6 didn't fall Oregon's way, Clissold clinched the match and the win for the Ducks on the fifth court. After dropping a tight first set, 7-5, Clissold bounced back and won the next two to seal the victory in front of a solid crowd, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Freshman Ty Gentry ended the match unfinished on No. 6, but was battling back and forth with Piers Foley all day and led, 6-3, 6-7 (8-10), 2-0, when the match was clinched.
What it Means: The Ducks secured the No. 4 seed in the Pac-12 Championships and will receive a first-round bye. Oregon will face off against the winner of the match between No. 5 seed Stanford and No. 8 seed Arizona on Thursday at noon in Ojai, Calif. The winner of that match will face top seed UCLA on Friday in the semifinals at noon. Oregon ends the regular season tied with Stanford for fourth in the Pac-12, the best finish in program history, and get the No. 4 seed and the first-round bye thanks to its head-to-head win over the Cardinal at home last Sunday. Oregon's 18 wins this season are second-most under head coach Nils Schyllander, just one shy of last year's 19 victories.
Notable: Laurent continued to dominate in singles, improving to 29-4, building on his single-season wins record, and 19-2 in dual matches, all at the No. 1 spot … Laurent is also now 7-3 against ranked opponents this season … In doubles, Laurent and Clissold improved to 37-6 all-time together, the third-most wins by a pair in UO history … Amos is now 92-34 all-time in singles as he builds on his all-time Oregon record … Clissold is now 13-6 in dual matches and has won his last three matches … Oregon finishes the regular season at 10-1 at home ... The Ducks have now won the last four meetings against the Huskies.
Quotable: Head Coach Nils Schyllander
"We're going to enjoy this one for a few hours; beating Washington is always big because this is a huge rivalry for both teams, so we're really happy we were able to get this one. I think we've showed all season that we can play with anyone in the conference and anyone in the country, so we're going down to Ojai with high hopes. We just have to keep playing hard and great things will happen for us."
Up Next: The Ducks will leave on Monday for Ojai, Calif., and will prepare for their opening match of the Pac-12 Championships on Thursday.
Players Mentioned
