Ducks Fend Off Huskies In 4-3 Thriller

Saturday, March 31

Seattle, WA

2:00 PM

University of Oregon

Washington

03/31/18 | Men's Tennis

Match Results: Oregon 4, Washington 3

SEATTLE, Wash. – The Oregon men's tennis team pulled out a wild 4-3 victory over Washington Sunday afternoon, with freshman Riki Oshima clinching the win in a third set with the match tied 3-3.

"At one point we looked down and out," said head coach Nils Schyllander. "But the guys showed tremendous grit and team spirit to be able to battle back and get the win."

This is the third time this season a match result has come down to a third set decision, with UO losing in both previous matches.

How it Happened: The Ducks (13-6, 1-2) shook things up in doubles play to successful results, taking it right to the Huskies.

Playing in only their second match this season at the No. 2 spot the duo of Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry cruised to a 6-1 win over UW's Piers Foley and Mitch Stewart.

Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent secured the opening point for Oregon picking up their fourth straight victory by downing Kawika Lam and Enzo Sommer at the No. 1 spot, 6-4.

The Huskies fought back in singles play, picking up two victories in quick succession. UW's Enzo Sommer held off Akihiro Tanaka, 7-5, in the first set to record the win at the No. 3 spot, 7-5, 6-2.

Stevens fell by a similar result at the No. 2 spot after taking Washington's Jake Douglas to a first set tiebreaker. The Belgium international would end up falling to Douglas, 7-6(2), 6-1, as Washington took a 2-1 lead.

With Gentry already battling in a third set at the No. 5 spot, Laurent pulled out a 6-4, 7-5 victory at the No. 1 position to tie the match 2-2.

Meanwhile, after dropping their opening sets, Clissold and Oshima battled to force a tiebreaker in their second sets at the No. 4 and No. 6 spots, respectively. Both Ducks would pull off the tiebreaker victories to extend their matches into a third set.

But, while Clissold and Oshima opened their third sets, Washington managed to take a 3-2 lead as Gentry fell to the Huskies' Jack Davis, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Clissold answered for UO running through UW's Amit Batta in the third set to win 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1.

With the match knotted at 3-3, Oshima traded games with Alexis Alvarez in the third, eventually tying the set 4-4. The Japanese international buckled down to win the next two games and defeat Alvarez, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, to clinch the match victory.

Notable: This is the second time the match victory has fallen to the freshman in a third set. Oshima previously lost to USC's Jack Jaede, resulting in a 4-3 loss to then No. 13 ranked USC … Clissold and Oshima are only the third and fourth Ducks this season to bounce back after an opening set loss to win their respective matches … Stevens and Gentry's doubles win at the No. 2 spot marked their first career win at that position.

Quotable: Head coach Nils Schyllander
On the Ducks doubles play...
"We had to scramble in doubles, but I felt the guys responded really well and came out with unbelievable energy to secure the point, which proved to be very important."

On Clissold and Oshima's play to keep UO alive...
"It was really rewarding to see senior Cormac, who has battled for us for years, come back and save match point. And on the other hand to see a freshman, in front of a big crowd, come back and win it in the third set. The team showed unbelievable grit today."

Up Next: The Ducks return to Eugene for their final two home matches of the season, hosting Arizona State and Arizona Friday (April 6) and Sunday (April 8), respectively.