University of Oregon
Loyola Marymount
Ducks Win Season Opener, 5-2
01/18/19 | Women's Tennis
The Oregon women's tennis team claimed a 5-2 victory over Loyola Marymount in their home opener Friday
EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon women's tennis team claimed a commanding 5-2 victory over Loyola Marymount in its home opener at the Student Tennis Center Friday.
How It Happened: Oregon (1-0) was forced to forfeit one of its doubles matches, giving the Lions the advantage to begin doubles play. But the Ducks rose to the occasion, displaying immense grit despite the imminent pressure.
Paiton Wagner and Allison Mulville were the first pair to finish for the Ducks, downing Siobhan Anderson and Lillian Gabrielsen of LMU, 6-2.
On the next court over, Shweta Sangwan and Rifanty Kahfiani found themselves in a battle. Veronica Miroshnichenko and Ava Marie Voracek of LMU (0-1) were serving for the match, but the Oregon duo broke their serve to stay alive. Sangwan and Kahfiani went on to win the next game and eventually claim the victory 7-6(3) to give the first point to the Ducks.
After securing the doubles point, UO moved onto singles where they continued to dominate.
Kahfiani took control early on in her match and carried her momentum all the way through, defeating Anderson, 6-1, 6-0.
Mulville finished shortly after, beating De Lucas in straight sets (6-2, 6-1) to claim her first collegiate victory and giving the Ducks another point.
In the clinching match for Oregon, Sangwan fought her way to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Miroshnichenko. The senior's victory put the Ducks ahead 4-2 on the scoreboard with a match still going.
Despite having the team victory secured, Wagner finished out her match and defeated Voracek, 6-3, 3-6, 3-2(4).
Quotable:
Courtney Nagle, Head Coach
On the team's mentality despite being down numbers…
"I think our girls did a great job of staying tough when things didn't go our way. They were brave when they needed to be. That momentum carried us all the way through singles."
Shweta Sangwan, Senior
On playing from behind...
"I think I play better when I'm down. I've been in a lot of situations where I'm usually down, so I have that confidence in myself that I know I can come back. The game style that I have also helps because I don't make a lot of errors, so I just play consistently and I think it gets in people's heads."
Up Next: The Ducks will travel south to Malibu, Calif., for ITA Kick-Off Weekend, facing Denver at 1 p.m. PT on Saturday, Jan. 26, then taking on either Pepperdine or UNLV at the same time on Sunday, Jan. 27.
