Ducks Open Final Stretch At Utah Saturday

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon men's tennis team opens its final three-game road trip of the regular season this Saturday at Utah. The Ducks take on the Utes at 11 a.m. PT in UO's third ranked matchup in the past four matches.

MATCH 22: No. 41 OREGON (14-7, 2-3) vs. No. 35 UTAH (19-4, 2-2)
Saturday, April 14 | 11 a.m. PT
Salt Lake City, Utah | Eccles Tennis Center
Live Stats: N/A
Live Video: utahutes.com

LAST TIME OUT
The Ducks closed out their regular season home slate with a weekend split against the Arizona schools last Friday and Sunday.

UO squared off against No. 37 Arizona State in its first match of the weekend. The Ducks raced out to secure the doubles point against the Sun Devils thanks to wins from Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent at the No. 1 spot along with Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry at the No. 2 position. ASU took a 3-1 lead in singles play following wins at the top three positions. UO attempted to rally back with the remaining three spots all headed into a third set. With Gentry and freshman Riki Oshima leading in their final sets, Clissold fell at the No. 4 spot to clinch the 4-1 victory for ASU.

In the final home match of the season, the Ducks cruised through Arizona to record their ninth sweep of the year. With the doubles point secured, Laurent and Gentry picked up quick straight-set wins at the No. 1 and No. 5 positions, respectively, to make it 3-0. As two of the remaining four matches prepared to head into a third set, Oshima clinched the match with a 6-4, 7-5 win at the No. 6 spot.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Ducks held steady in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings, remaining at No. 41.

Despite recording their sixth straight victory, including three straight at the No. 1 spot, Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent dropped six spots to No. 31 in the doubles rankings. UO's new career doubles wins record holders, the duo is 22-6 overall and 14-4 in dual play.

In the singles rankings, Laurent took a slight drop as well but remianed in the top 25, falling to No. 24. He is currently 14-4 this spring season, having won five of his last six singles matches.

WHERE THE CARDS FALL
With only three matches left this season, the Ducks still have a chance to make some noise in the Pac-12 standings. After improving to 2-3 in the Pac-12 following the weekend split, the Ducks currently sit at seventh in the standings. UO is among four teams currently tied with two conference wins, including upcoming opponents Utah and California. If the Ducks can win two of their final three matches, specifically against the Utes and Golden Bears, UO can climb as high as No. 4 in the Pac-12 and earn a first-round bye in the postseason tournament. It won't be an easy task for the Ducks, with all three remaining teams ranked in the top 35, including No. 4 Stanford.

THE DYNAMIC DUO
Senior Cormac Clissold and junior Thomas Laurent cemented their place in Oregon history this season. With their doubles win against UCSB, they passed Robin Cambier and Jeff Mullen for the all-time doubles wins record at UO.

"Obviously yeah it feels good," said Clissold of the accomplishment. "But we both know the job's not done yet. We've got the rest of the season to go, and then hopefully postseason, we're going to try and go as far as we can as a team."

As a pair, Clissold and Laurent are 61-13 all-time. So far this year, the two Ducks have a team-high 22-6 overall record, going 14-4 during the spring season. The duo has won its last six straight, and 13 of the last 15, doubles matches.

Their career winning percentage of .824 is currently the second-highest among doubles pairs in UO history. To put that in perspective, only five other doubles teams, including Cambier's and Mullen's all-time leading .838 career winning percentage, have a winning percentage above .700. Clissold and Laurent also made history this past fall winning UO's first-ever ITA Northwest Regional doubles title, thereby earning an automatic bid to the Fall National Championships.

GRAB YOUR BROOMS
Following their 4-0 victory over Arizona, the Ducks have now recorded nine victories without conceding a single point. UO's single-match dominance has slowly risen since the 2010 season. In 2010, Oregon recorded three match sweeps with that number continually rising each season since, culminating in 10 perfect wins last year. With three guaranteed matches left this season, UO still has an opportunity to tie last year's shutout record.

TO BE THE BEST YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BEST
The Ducks have some stiff competition to close out the season, with all three of their final opponents this season currently ranked in the ITA top 35. Heading into Saturday's match, Utah is No. 35, having dropped its last two matches at Stanford and Cal. UO will then close out the season by taking on No. 4 Stanford followed by No. 31 California in its final two matches of the year.

Oregon has faced six ranked opponents so far this season for a 1-5 record. UO defeated No. 49 Washington in a close 4-3 match to record its sole ranked win on the year.

UO-SHIMA
Freshman Riki Oshima has been on a tear for the Ducks as of late. After a 5-5 start to the season, Oshima has won his last five singles matches for a 10-5 record this spring. In that span, he has clinched two match victories for Oregon. First, he secured UO's first conference win and first ranked win of the year at No. 49 Washington. With the match tied 3-3, it came down to the Toyama, Japan native, who fought off match point in a second set tiebreaker to force a decisive third set. Oshima and UW's Alexis Alvarez traded games in the final set until they were knotted at 4-4. Oshima managed to close it out by winning the final two games to take the match, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

In the Ducks' most recent match against Arizona, it was Oshima once again who clinched the victory for UO. After flying out to a 3-0 lead against the Wildcats, Oshima recorded a 6-4, 7-5 win at the No. 6 spot to secure the match sweep, 4-0.

Oshima has also partnered with senior Akihiro Tanaka twice this spring for a 2-0 doubles record.

A CAREER TO BE PROUD OF
Heading into the tail end of their careers, seniors Simon Stevens and Cormac Clissold will be among some of UO's all-time best singles and doubles players.

With four guaranteed matches left this season, Clissold is tied with Lee Kirner for ninth on the UO career singles wins list with a 64-30 record. After starting his senior year on the outskirts of the top 15, he has skyrocketed six spots thanks to an 18-6 record this year. In doubles play, Clissold sits at second on the all-time individual doubles wins list. In his four seasons at Oregon, he has accumulated 82 wins in doubles play, with 61 of them coming with partner Thomas Laurent.

Not to be outdone, fellow senior Stevens is nipping at Clissold's heels coming in at third on the individual doubles list. The Belgium international has accrued 76 doubles wins throughout his career at UO. Where Stevens has shined has been in singles play. He is currently tied with Laurent for sixth all-time at Oregon, sporting a career record of 71-38.

WHAT'S A SOPHOMORE SLUMP?
Sophomore Ty Gentry has enjoyed some massive success during his second year at Oregon. After finishing his freshman season 11-10 overall, Gentry has flipped a switch going 21-4 in singles play this year. Currently on a five-match winning streak, he opened the spring season with a 10-match winning streak dating back to the fall. With his 21 wins this season, the Olympia, Wash., native is currently tied for 15th on the UO single-season wins list. If he can record wins in all three of Oregon's remaining matches, he will jump into a tie for fourth on the single-season list.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Ducks close out the season in California, taking on No. 4 Stanford on Friday, April 20, before closing out the regular season at No. 31 Cal Saturday, April 21.