The No. 26 Oregon women’s tennis team traveled back to California looking to shake off the rust after not having a match for the past 13 days.
After a 24-hour delay due to weather, the Ducks finally took on No. 49 Cal, looking to break one streak and extend another. Oregon had lost its two prior away matches, but won its last two matches overall.
The Oregon women’s tennis team fell to the Golden Bears 5-2, extending their away match losing streak to three.
The match started well for the Ducks when they secured the doubles point for the third straight match.
Although No. 69 pair Shweta Sangwan and Julia Eshet dropped their match to No. 48 Olivia Hauger and Julia Rosenqvist 6-1, the other two pairs secured the point.
The No. 64 pair of Alyssa Tobita and Rifanty Kahfiani won 6-2, and the freshman duo of Julia Lilien and Paiton Wagner won 6-3.
In singles play, No. 94 Tobita beat her fourth top-100 opponent of the season, downing No. 41 Rosenqvist 7-6(4), 6-3. That win was No. 74 for Tobita in her career at Oregon, passing Julia Metzger for third all-time in program history.
Other than Tobita, singles play did not bode well for the Ducks with a familiar face absent from the lineup for the Ducks. Sangwan was not in her usual No. 2 position. After dropping her earlier doubles match, Sangwan was missing from the lineup.
In Sangwan’s place, Lilien made her first career start in the No. 2 position. This proved to be a tough task for the freshman as she lost her first match against a ranked opponent, No. 32 Anna Bright, 7-6, 6-2.
The other four Ducks competing in singles also dropped their matches. Eshet lost 7-5, 6-0, Wagner lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, Kahfiani lost 6-7, 7-6, 1-0(7) and Daniela Nasser lost 6-4, 6-4.
Oregon will need to turn around quickly as they will be taking on No. 23 Stanford tomorrow at 11 a.m.
Follow Maverick Pallack on Twitter @mavpallack