It’s incredible how quickly dead silence can turn to deafening joy.

A sigh of relief and cheers of excitement erupted from the Student Tennis Center as Ivailo Keremedchiev capped off his singles match with a 6-1 third set and pushed No. 52 Oregon (6-4) to a 4-1 score, sealing the victory over the Denver Pioneers (5-5). 

It’s hard to lose a match you never trail in.

Oregon was all over the No. 46 seed on Thursday night. Every time it looked like Denver might pioneer a comeback, Oregon added on. 

When Quinn Vandecasteele fell in the No. 2 slot to Matt Summers, Joshua Charlton backed him up. His dominant day saw Charlton walk all over Denver’s Nicolas Herrero Cuesta, delivering a 6-0, 6-3 win. 

Charton’s win erased any damage Summers had done and put the Ducks up 2-1. It also added to an impressive season from the junior that currently sees him sitting at No. 81 in the singles rankings. 

“It’s just about recreating energy out there,” Oregon coach Nils Schyllander said. “Show them you’re not going away. It takes a lot of pressure off of everyone else.”

Ryoma Matsushita, with his sleeves cut off and and a winner’s attitude on full display, impressed from the No. 6 slot. With cheers of “Ryyyyyyy” raining down from his devoted courtside fans, his two 6-3 set wins over Denver’s Daniel Krulig pushed the Oregon lead to 3-1. Matsushita was loving his personal entourage. 

“They inspired me so much,” Matsushita said. “They were pushing me up and it helped a lot.”

When Keremedchiev closed out his set, Oregon wrapped up the upset, striking gold and ending its brief two game losing skid. 

In the remaining sets, Denver’s Charlie Miller grabbed a point with a win in the No. 5 slot, but it was erased by Jesper Klöv-Nilsson’s hard fought sweep at No. 4, giving the No. 124 ranked player another quality win and bringing the final score to 5-2. 

The 4-2 singles play came on the heels of the doubles play matches that saw Oregon win 2-0. A 6-3 victory from duo Klöv-Nilsson and Luke Vandecasteele got the scoring started and put the Ducks ahead in doubles play. Moments later, Keremedchiev and Yousseff Kadiri snatched a 6-3 win of their own, giving Oregon another point and solidifying the 2-0 doubles sweep. 

“We played probably the best doubles we’ve played all year,” Schyllander said. “That cost us last time but the boys did a great job.”

For the third consecutive game, the No. 16 ranked duo of Charlton and Q. Vandecasteele saw their match go unfinished. The Ducks were tied at four with Denver’s best pair when the doubles point was clinched.

“They’re one of the best teams in the country,” Schyllander said. “There’s no one that’s better than them. There’s teams that can beat them but they’re as good as anyone.”

The win caps off a 2022 program sweep of Denver. The Oregon women’s team took down the Pioneers 4-2 in early February.

Gaining momentum back was a necessity with Pac-12 play flooding the upcoming Ducks schedule. 

The next match is one that’s been circled on the calendar for a while.

“It’s the Huskies,” Schyllander said. “They’re very good this year. It’s going to be a battle and it should be a lot of fun.”

Washington (9-3) rolls into Eugene for a Saturday showdown at 2 p.m. This is where the boys become men. This is where the fun begins.