Tennis Recap: Conference Play Begins

Women’s Tennis

The Oregon women welcomed the Big Ten’s easternmost programs in Maryland and Rutgers to the Student Tennis Center this past weekend. Competition began against #49 Maryland on Friday and Oregon got off to a hot start by claiming the doubles point. Hinata Furutani / Juliet Santitto won by a razor thin 7-6 margin while Tilde Jagare / Olivia Symons took down the Terrapins’ Emma Ghirardato / Ema Kovacevic (the #23 ranked pair in the nation). Once singles play began Maryland found their footing again. Jagare pulled off a coup by defeating #89 Oliwia Orlinska on court 1. Though the Ducks kept every other match close (extending them to third sets or extra games), they couldn’t pull off another win. While keeping it so close against a ranked team with ranked individuals and pairs shows progress, it was hard not to be frustrated by only needing 3 points in singles and not being able to come up with them.

The Ducks had no time to mourn their missed opportunity, as #64 Rutgers was up on Sunday. This time it wasn’t even close as Oregon dominated the Scarlet Knights 4-0 on their home courts. The pairs of Furutani /Santitto and Jagare / Symons took the doubles point 6-0 and 6-1, respectively. Consecutive victories by Patsy Daughters, Mihulka, and Jagare in straight sets ended the weekend decisively.

The women host their northern rivals later this week with the Pac-12’s own WSU Cougars (Friday) and washington on Saturday.

Men’s Tennis

The men closed out non-conference play on March 1 against North Carolina-Wilmington at home. The Ducks quickly decided the meet 4-0, but as the only meet of the weekend the rest of the matches were allowed to play out and the final score was recorded 6-1. With the appetizer over, the main course began last Friday as the team went on the road to the Land of Lincoln against Illinois. The Illini provided much stiffer competition. The Ducks dropped the doubles point 2-1 with Matthew Burton / Pierre Mouesca recording the victory. Every doubles match ended in a 7-6 score. Behind the 8-ball, Oregon couldn’t even keep it close in singles play and lost three matches in straight sets to end the meet. It is notable that Vlad Breazu led Illinois’ No. 23 Kenta Miyoshi 6-4, 5-4 when the competition ended.

On Sunday the Ducks moved on to Evanston to take on Northwestern. Oregon earned the doubles point 2-1 thanks to victories by Lachlan Robertson / Cameron Burton and Vlad Breazu / Declan Galligan. Breazu won his singles match on court 1 to kick off singles play. Though the Wildcats took the second match that finished, wins by Matthew Burton and Robertson gave the Ducks a 4-1 win with two matches left incomplete. One of those unfinished matches featured an extended 10-12 second set loss from Mouesca, but he had rallied to lead 2-0 in the third set when the meet ended. It was a great rebound performance after a tough loss to a highly ranked opponent in Champaigne.

The men return to Eugene this week against Indiana on Friday and Purdue on Sunday.