Doubles Rally Lifts Ducks to Win at Drake

Friday, February 22

Des Moines, IA

12:00 PM

University of Oregon

Drake

02/22/19 | Men's Tennis

By: Zach Lawson

DES MOINES, Iowa – The No. 15 University of Oregon men's tennis team continued its winning ways Friday afternoon with a 6-1 road win over 46^th-ranked Drake. The Ducks have won their last seven matches, moving to 10-1 on the season. Friday's win is the team's fourth top-50 victory of the season.

Up Next: Oregon will travel on to Madison, Wis., to face the Badgers on Sunday at 9 a.m. (PT).

"It was a good effort today against a very good team," head coach Nils Schyllander said. "We had talked about the effort we needed to show up with today in doubles because Drake is a high-octane team and we did just that."

In doubles play, the Ducks split with Drake (7-4) on courts one and two, shifting all attention to court three. Playing together for just the second time, the duo of Riki Oshima and Charles Roberts forced a tiebreaker in the No. 3 spot and came out on top with a 7-6(5) win to give Oregon the first point of the day.

Freshman Joshua Charlton—off his doubles win with Ty Gentry—was the first Duck off the court in singles play, making quick work of his opponent with a 6-1, 6-0 win five. He remains undefeated in dual play and has won his last nine matches.

Thomas Laurent, the No. 7 player in the country, pushed the Ducks' match lead to 3-0 with a straight-set win at the top spot over No. 72 Vinny Gillespie. With the result, the senior ace has a team-leading 17 wins this season including nine over ranked opponents.

Having already tallied the clinching point in doubles, Roberts made it two-for-two with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win on court six to clinch the match for the Ducks. The sophomore has won his last four matches in singles.

The two teams played out the remainder of the matches on court with Gentry and Oshima picking up wins on courts three and four. The 6-4, 6-7, 1-0(3) win for Gentry marked his 11^th-consecutive victory. Gentry is now 14-3 this season.

#15 Oregon 6, #46 Drake 1
Friday, February 22, 2019
Roger Knapp Tennis Center (Des Moines, Iowa)

Doubles
1. Gillespie/Thorold (DU) def. #41 Charlton/Laurent (ORE) – 6-4
2. #43 Coste/Gentry (ORE) def. Hall/Philips (DU) – 7-5
3. Oshima/Roberts (ORE) def. Hands/MacGeoch (DU) – 7-6(5)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles
1. #7 Thomas Laurent (ORE) def. #72 Vinny Gillespie (DU) – 6-3, 6-1
2. #64 Tom Hands (DU) def. #78 Emmanuel Coste (ORE) – 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6)
3. Ty Gentry (ORE) def. Barny Thorold (DU) – 6-4, 6-7(8), 1-0(5)
4. Riki Oshima (ORE) def. Bayo Philips (DU) 7-6, 7-6
5. Joshua Charlton (ORE) def. Calum MacGeoch (DU) – 6-1, 6-0
6. Charles Roberts (ORE) def. Finley Hall (DU) – 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 6*, 4, 3, 2 (* - clincher)

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