University of Oregon
Texas A&M
Season Ends With Second-Round Loss to Texas A&M
05/13/17 | Men's Tennis
OREGON SAW ITS 2017 SEASON COME TO AN END IN THE SECOND ROUND OF THE NCAA TOURNAMENT WITH A 4-0 LOSS TO HOST TEXAS A&M
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 24th-ranked Oregon men's tennis team saw its season come to an end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finals of the College Station Regional on Saturday with a 4-0 loss to No. 13 Texas A&M at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Ducks (19-7) end their season in the regional final for the second year in a row, closing out a tremendous year that saw the team claim marquee wins and individuals break program records.
"It has been good a season," said head coach Nils Schyllander. "We had 19 wins and made it to the regional finals. It is always sour when you lose because you have big goals, but it has been a good year. We're really proud of our guys and the work that they have put in."
How it Happened: The match started with a battle in doubles that came down to the wire. Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold got the Ducks off to a good start with a 6-4 win at No. 2, but Aleksandre Bakshi and Max Lunkin evened the score for the Aggies (21-6) with a 6-4 win at No. 3 over Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry.
The top court came down to a tiebreaker for the doubles point, with Jayson Amos and Armando Soemarno battling for the Ducks against the ninth-ranked Aggie pair AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech. The two pairs battled back and forth, but Texas A&M came out on top, 7-6 (2) to win the point.
"I think that the doubles point was crucial," said Schyllander. "If we had pulled that out, then I like our chances. We still came out in the singles and battled hard and split the first sets. In the end, Texas A&M was just a little too tough."
The Ducks did play tough in singles, but the Aggies' momentum from the doubles point proved to be too much to overcome. Catanzariti made the Texas A&M lead 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 over junior Akihiro Tanaka, and 48th-ranked Jordi Arconda pulled the Aggies within a point of clinching with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Stevens at No. 2.
The Aggies clinched the match and a berth to the Sweet 16 when Rinderknech, ranked sixth in the country, handed Laurent a rare loss at the top court, 6-4, 6-2.
Season in Review: The Ducks close out a tremendous 2017 season that saw a number of accolades and records broken. Oregon's 19 wins tie the most under Schyllander, matching last year's total, and the team was ranked in the ITA top 25 for 11 consecutive polls, a program record. On April 16, the Ducks defeated then-15th-ranked Stanford, matching the highest-ranked win in program history. Oregon also finished the regular season fourth in the conference, marking the best Pac-12 finish in program history.
Individually, Amos wraps his Oregon career as the winningest player in program history with 93 career singles wins, and his 67 career doubles wins are fourth-most in program history. Laurent enjoyed a remarkable sophomore season, and he is not quite done yet as he has qualified for the NCAA Singles Championships. His loss today was just the sixth of the season, and he has broken the UO single-season record and become the first 30-match winner in program history with a 30-6 overall record. He was 20-4 in dual matches, all at the top spot. Laurent also set a program record for consecutive wins earlier this season with 18.
Up Next: Laurent will open up the NCAA Singles Championships on May 24 in Athens, Ga.
Players Mentioned
