Oregon Women’s tennis defeated the University of Portland Pilots 4-1, snapping a 12 match losing streak on Daniela Nasser’s senior night.
Oregon opened doubles action with Paiton Wagner and Rifanty Kahfiani dominating their Portland counterparts Jelena Lukic and Abba Oberg to earn a 6-1 victory on court one.
The other two doubles matches were not as easy for the Ducks.
On court two, Taryn Fujimori and Julia Eshet were able to claw out a 7-6 (7-4) victory. The match went back and forth. Every time the Ducks duo would pull ahead, the Pilots would come right back with another level of intensity, but the Ducks would eventually win the second match and clinch the doubles point.
“A lot of breaks and back and forths, they (Oregon) did a great job of coming back,” said head coach Courtney Nagle. “We found a better rhythm, and Taryn played some of her best tennis she’s played all season.”
Due to Oregon winning the first two of three doubles matches the third match went unfinished in which Nasser and Allison Mulville were tied with Emily Soares and Lourdes Ramalle 6-6 at the time.
In between doubles and singles matches, Nagle held a team talk and at the end they all yelled out Nasser in honor of their lone senior. This seemed to light a fire underneath the team, as the Ducks came out hot in singles play.
Rifanty Kahfiani cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win on court two, earning the Ducks their second point of the night, and a 2-0 lead.
“Rifanty played great tennis, you blinked and her match was over,” Nagle said. “She played pretty flawless.”
Alison Mulville then defeated Angela Schuster 6-1, 6-2 giving Oregon a 3-0 advantage. Anna Oberg won the lone point for the Pilots, defeating Fujimori 6-0, 6-3.
But then Paiton Wagner clinched the match for the Ducks with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Raphaelle Leblanc, earning Oregon its first match victory in its last 13.
With the match already clinched, Nasser who was winning her match 6-3, 5-3 at the time, was not able to pick up her 84th career singles victory. But either way, her coach was happy for her to go with a victory in her last home match.
“It’s always great to have a good last match at home, with a great environment lots of fans,” Nagle said. “To get a win in your last home match as a senior is good.”
While Nasser was not able to come out with a victory herself, she still enjoyed every moment of her four years with the program.
“Kind of speechless because I don’t think it is going to hit me until a little bit later” an emotional Nasser said. “I loved every second I spent here, the school’s amazing, the coaching staff is amazing, and the people are amazing.”
Up next for the team is the Pac-12 Championships, which will begin April 24 in Ojai, California.