Saturday, March 10
Eugene, OR
1:00 PM
University of Oregon
3
vs
4
USC
Upset Bid Falls Short As No. 13 USC Slips By Ducks 4-3
03/10/18 | Men's Tennis
EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon men's tennis team took No. 13 USC to the limit Saturday afternoon, nearly clinching the victory at one point, but could not get over the hump falling to the Trojans 4-3.
"I expect us to be able to win these matches," said head coach Nils Schyllander. "We are talented enough, and obviously we got within one shot of winning today. So right now it's mostly frustrating to be honest."
How it Happened: Less than 24 hours removed from a hard fought loss to No. 4 UCLA, the Ducks (9-6, 0-2) stepped back out on the court to challenge yet another Pac-12 powerhouse in USC.
Fatigue and sore legs looked to be an issue early as the Ducks could not get anything going against the Trojans in doubles play. USC's two top-ranked doubles pairs clinched the point with 6-4 and 6-1 wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.
In singles play, USC jumped out to a 2-0 lead winning a top 15 matchup at the No. 1 spot. The Trojans' No. 12 Brandon Holt defeated No. 13 Thomas Laurent 6-1, 6-2.
Fearing a quick result to the match, senior Akihiro Tanaka gave the Ducks life at the No. 3 spot downing Laurens Verboven 6-2, 6-4 to get UO on the board, 2-1.
Sophomore Ty Gentry kept the momentum rolling in Oregon's favor rallying after dropping his opening set, 4-6. The Olympia, Wash., native, won the next 12 straight games to blank Logan Smith in the final two sets and win his match, 4-6, 6-0, 6-0.
With the match tied 2-2, the remaining three courts all went into third sets.
After coming back to win the second set and send the match into a third, senior Simon Stevens looked to get the upset over No. 64 Daniel Cukierman, but could not pull it out falling 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.
Fellow senior Cormac Clissold evened it back up winning a back-and-forth third set to defeat Riley Smith, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
In the end, it all came down to freshman Riki Oshima who squared off against USC's Jack Jaede at the No. 6 spot. Oshima raced out to a quick 6-1 win in the first set, nearly putting Jaede away in the second, earning match point twice, but the Trojan won the tiebreaker set to send the match into a deciding third set.
With the crowd cheering him on from the bleachers and his teammates huddled together on the adjoining court, Oshima battled to try and secure the victory for UO. The Japanese international managed to get the edge on Jaede 3-2 midway through the final set, but that would be as close as he would get as the Trojan rattled off the next four games to win the match, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, and clinch the victory for USC.
Notable: Today's match marked the fourth top 50 matchup for the Ducks in the past five matches … Despite snapping his 11 match win streak in yesterday's match against UCLA, Gentry bounced back becoming only the second Duck this season to rally for the win after dropping the first set … Clissold was the only Duck to record singles wins in both matches this weekend, passing Alex Rovello for 10th on the UO all-time wins list with a career record of 61-28.
Quotable: Head Coach Nils Schyllander
On Oregon's doubles play…
"We were very slow in the start of the doubles. We were able to turn it in singles for the most part and played really, really hard. For whatever reason we were just slow starting in the doubles today."
On the positives from today's match…
"The Fight. You know we got within match point to win the dual. We had a match point there in the tiebreaker at No. 6 singles. You know you can't fault anyone, I mean the fight on my side was great."
Sophomore Ty Gentry
On what he did to turn it around in singles…
"I feel like I stayed steady. There was nothing big I made, no big changes, but I fought hard. I think I got a little more vocal so that helped get the crowd into it and everybody around us into it, so that was good."
Up Next: The Ducks look to regroup and snap out of their current four-match skid hosting Santa Clara Thursday, Mar. 15, at 5 p.m.
"I expect us to be able to win these matches," said head coach Nils Schyllander. "We are talented enough, and obviously we got within one shot of winning today. So right now it's mostly frustrating to be honest."
How it Happened: Less than 24 hours removed from a hard fought loss to No. 4 UCLA, the Ducks (9-6, 0-2) stepped back out on the court to challenge yet another Pac-12 powerhouse in USC.
Fatigue and sore legs looked to be an issue early as the Ducks could not get anything going against the Trojans in doubles play. USC's two top-ranked doubles pairs clinched the point with 6-4 and 6-1 wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.
In singles play, USC jumped out to a 2-0 lead winning a top 15 matchup at the No. 1 spot. The Trojans' No. 12 Brandon Holt defeated No. 13 Thomas Laurent 6-1, 6-2.
Fearing a quick result to the match, senior Akihiro Tanaka gave the Ducks life at the No. 3 spot downing Laurens Verboven 6-2, 6-4 to get UO on the board, 2-1.
Sophomore Ty Gentry kept the momentum rolling in Oregon's favor rallying after dropping his opening set, 4-6. The Olympia, Wash., native, won the next 12 straight games to blank Logan Smith in the final two sets and win his match, 4-6, 6-0, 6-0.
With the match tied 2-2, the remaining three courts all went into third sets.
After coming back to win the second set and send the match into a third, senior Simon Stevens looked to get the upset over No. 64 Daniel Cukierman, but could not pull it out falling 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.
Fellow senior Cormac Clissold evened it back up winning a back-and-forth third set to defeat Riley Smith, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
In the end, it all came down to freshman Riki Oshima who squared off against USC's Jack Jaede at the No. 6 spot. Oshima raced out to a quick 6-1 win in the first set, nearly putting Jaede away in the second, earning match point twice, but the Trojan won the tiebreaker set to send the match into a deciding third set.
With the crowd cheering him on from the bleachers and his teammates huddled together on the adjoining court, Oshima battled to try and secure the victory for UO. The Japanese international managed to get the edge on Jaede 3-2 midway through the final set, but that would be as close as he would get as the Trojan rattled off the next four games to win the match, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, and clinch the victory for USC.
Notable: Today's match marked the fourth top 50 matchup for the Ducks in the past five matches … Despite snapping his 11 match win streak in yesterday's match against UCLA, Gentry bounced back becoming only the second Duck this season to rally for the win after dropping the first set … Clissold was the only Duck to record singles wins in both matches this weekend, passing Alex Rovello for 10th on the UO all-time wins list with a career record of 61-28.
Quotable: Head Coach Nils Schyllander
On Oregon's doubles play…
"We were very slow in the start of the doubles. We were able to turn it in singles for the most part and played really, really hard. For whatever reason we were just slow starting in the doubles today."
On the positives from today's match…
"The Fight. You know we got within match point to win the dual. We had a match point there in the tiebreaker at No. 6 singles. You know you can't fault anyone, I mean the fight on my side was great."
Sophomore Ty Gentry
On what he did to turn it around in singles…
"I feel like I stayed steady. There was nothing big I made, no big changes, but I fought hard. I think I got a little more vocal so that helped get the crowd into it and everybody around us into it, so that was good."
Up Next: The Ducks look to regroup and snap out of their current four-match skid hosting Santa Clara Thursday, Mar. 15, at 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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