Friday, May 12
College Station, TX
9:00 AM
University of Oregon
4
vs
2
Memphis
Ducks Down Memphis to Reach Regional Final
05/12/17 | Men's Tennis
OREGON DEFEATED MEMPHIS, 4-2, IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE NCAA TOURNAMENT AND WILL FACE TEXAS A&M AT NOON ON SATURDAY IN THE FINAL OF THE COLLEGE STATION REGIONAL
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Oregon men's tennis team earned an NCAA Tournament win in back-to-back years for the first time in program history on Friday, defeating Memphis, 4-2, to reach the finals of the College Station Regional at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Ducks (19-6) will face host Texas A&M on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT, with a berth to the Sweet 16 on the line. Oregon will look to advance past the regionals for the first time in program history on Saturday after claiming its second all-time NCAA Tournament win.
How it Happened: No. 24 Oregon started the match off well with a win in the doubles point, a feat that has proven to be crucial to the Ducks' success throughout the season.
After No. 34 Memphis (15-9) won 6-3 at No. 3, Jayson Amos and Armando Soemarno evened the score with a 6-3 win at the top court over the 85th-ranked pair of Kai Lemke and Andrew Watson. The Ducks clinched the doubles point when Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent pulled out a 6-4 win at No. 2 over Feliz Rauch and Ryan Peniston. The Ducks are now 15-2 when winning the doubles point.
The Ducks took momentum into singles, but it was the Tigers who got off to a fast start as they looked to fight back from the 1-0 deficit. Memphis claimed first-set wins on four of the six singles courts, and evened the match score at 1-1 when Matt Story defeated sophomore Ethan Young-Smith at the No. 6 spot, 6-4, 6-3.
Oregon began to fight back from there, with Clissold climbing out of an early hole to win at No. 5, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2, and put the Ducks back ahead in the match, 2-1. Laurent, ranked 27th in the nation in singles, pulled the Ducks within a point of clinching the match with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over 82nd-ranked Ryan Peniston at No. 1 singles. With the win, Laurent improved his singles record this season to 30-5 and became the first 30-match winner in program history.
With the Ducks leading 3-2, the match came down to a pair of third-set battles at No. 2 and No. 4. Junior Simon Stevens came away with the clinching point, defeating No. 98 Andrew Watson on the second court, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Amos was tied, 5-5, in the third set at No. 4 when the match was clinched.
What it Means: The Oregon men's tennis program continues its upward trend, picking up where it left off last year when it claimed the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. The Ducks will now need to defeat Texas A&M tomorrow to make their first-ever Sweet 16, which will take place on March 18 in Athens, Ga.
Laurent, who already owns the UO single-season wins record, continued his stellar play with another singles win to improve to 30-5 this season. Laurent is now 20-3 in dual matches this season, playing every match at the No. 1 spot. For his career, Laurent is an astounding 49-11 in singles and 24-3 at the top court.
Quotable: Head Coach Nils Schyllander
"I think we came out with good energy in doubles and that point proved to be very valuable. We kind of dug a hole in singles, but the boys showed grit and determination as they have all year, and they clawed back into it and it was great to see us fight back as a team."
Associate Head Coach Jonas Piibor
"The guys are resilient. They worked really, really hard. Memphis is a tough team. I think the doubles point was huge. Then they got the momentum early in the first couple of sets, and we just had to scrap our way back and come back in some three-set matches."
Notable: Laurent and Clissold improved to 38-7 all-time together in doubles, third-best in UO history, and are just one win shy of tying for second in program history … Amos won his 68th career doubles match, fourth-most in UO history … Clissold improved to 19-11 in singles this season, while Stevens moved to 16-12.
Up Next: Texas A&M, the No. 12 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, will take on the Ducks at noon on Saturday.
The Ducks (19-6) will face host Texas A&M on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT, with a berth to the Sweet 16 on the line. Oregon will look to advance past the regionals for the first time in program history on Saturday after claiming its second all-time NCAA Tournament win.
How it Happened: No. 24 Oregon started the match off well with a win in the doubles point, a feat that has proven to be crucial to the Ducks' success throughout the season.
After No. 34 Memphis (15-9) won 6-3 at No. 3, Jayson Amos and Armando Soemarno evened the score with a 6-3 win at the top court over the 85th-ranked pair of Kai Lemke and Andrew Watson. The Ducks clinched the doubles point when Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent pulled out a 6-4 win at No. 2 over Feliz Rauch and Ryan Peniston. The Ducks are now 15-2 when winning the doubles point.
The Ducks took momentum into singles, but it was the Tigers who got off to a fast start as they looked to fight back from the 1-0 deficit. Memphis claimed first-set wins on four of the six singles courts, and evened the match score at 1-1 when Matt Story defeated sophomore Ethan Young-Smith at the No. 6 spot, 6-4, 6-3.
Oregon began to fight back from there, with Clissold climbing out of an early hole to win at No. 5, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2, and put the Ducks back ahead in the match, 2-1. Laurent, ranked 27th in the nation in singles, pulled the Ducks within a point of clinching the match with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over 82nd-ranked Ryan Peniston at No. 1 singles. With the win, Laurent improved his singles record this season to 30-5 and became the first 30-match winner in program history.
With the Ducks leading 3-2, the match came down to a pair of third-set battles at No. 2 and No. 4. Junior Simon Stevens came away with the clinching point, defeating No. 98 Andrew Watson on the second court, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Amos was tied, 5-5, in the third set at No. 4 when the match was clinched.
What it Means: The Oregon men's tennis program continues its upward trend, picking up where it left off last year when it claimed the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. The Ducks will now need to defeat Texas A&M tomorrow to make their first-ever Sweet 16, which will take place on March 18 in Athens, Ga.
Laurent, who already owns the UO single-season wins record, continued his stellar play with another singles win to improve to 30-5 this season. Laurent is now 20-3 in dual matches this season, playing every match at the No. 1 spot. For his career, Laurent is an astounding 49-11 in singles and 24-3 at the top court.
Quotable: Head Coach Nils Schyllander
"I think we came out with good energy in doubles and that point proved to be very valuable. We kind of dug a hole in singles, but the boys showed grit and determination as they have all year, and they clawed back into it and it was great to see us fight back as a team."
Associate Head Coach Jonas Piibor
"The guys are resilient. They worked really, really hard. Memphis is a tough team. I think the doubles point was huge. Then they got the momentum early in the first couple of sets, and we just had to scrap our way back and come back in some three-set matches."
Notable: Laurent and Clissold improved to 38-7 all-time together in doubles, third-best in UO history, and are just one win shy of tying for second in program history … Amos won his 68th career doubles match, fourth-most in UO history … Clissold improved to 19-11 in singles this season, while Stevens moved to 16-12.
Up Next: Texas A&M, the No. 12 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, will take on the Ducks at noon on Saturday.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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