The Ducks are off to an explosive start in conference play.
In its first Pac-12 match of 2023, No. 53 Oregon (8-3, 1-0 Pac-12) topped No. 43 Arizona (10-6, 0-1 Pac-12) 4-1 on Friday for the program’s second ranked win of the season and third win over the Wildcats in the last four years.
Doubles play has been critical for the Ducks so far this season, with the doubles point victor winning each overall match so far. Oregon took full advantage of the chance to build early momentum and keep that trend alive. Jo-Yee Chan and Ares Teixido Garcia remained undefeated in doubles play with a 6-2 win over Midori Castillo-Meza and Salma Ziouti. Sophie Luescher and Uxia Martinez Moral capped off the doubles point win with their 6-4 victory over Reece Carter and Belen Nevenhoven.
Chan and Teixido Garcia are now 9-0 together while Luescher and Martinez Moral improved to 6-3 as a duo. Myah Petchey and Misaki Kobayashi fell 3-6 to Parker Fry and Kayla Wilkins in their doubles match to fall to 0-1 on the season. But Oregon clinched the doubles point and momentum – the ideal recipe for an upset in the desert.
All six singles matches went three sets. All six Ducks battled hard and three of them earned wins to clinch Oregon’s first conference win of 2023.
Luescher defeated Ziouti in the No. 1 spot despite a slow start. Luescher was shut out 0-6 in the first set, but rallied with 6-4 and 6-3 wins. Luescher’s contribution to the Ducks’ win brings her solo record to 3-4 on the year.
Teixido Garcia had Oregon’s lone singles loss in the No. 2 spot on Friday. She dropped her first set to Carter 1-6, won the second 6-3 and lost the third 2-6. Teixido Garcia – who’s had an impressive start to 2023 – suffered her fourth loss to fall to 7-4.
Petchey’s match against Castillo-Meza was one of the two sets that went unfinished on Friday. But she was winning the third set 2-1. It would have been nice for Petchey to be able to finish her set as she’s still searching for her first win (0-4), and a hard fought win over Castillo-Meza could have really served as a morale boost for the junior still trying to find her footing in 2023. But, as the Ducks had already clinched the match, her singles battle was called in the third set.
Martinez Moral dominated Wilkins in the first and third sets of their No. 4 match with 6-3 and 6-2 wins. Wilkins barely scraped by in the second set with a 7-6 win, but was no match for Martinez Moral – who improved to 9-1 on the year.
Karin Young’s No. 5 match with Lexi Ryngler was also unfinished. Young lost the first set3-6, but rallied for a 7-5 second set win and was leading Ryngler 4-2 when the match was called. Young remains 3-3 this season.
Chan continued to impress in the No. 6 spot. She lost her first set to Tanvi Narendran, but bounced back for 6-4 and 6-2 wins to close out the match, improve to 8-1 and push Oregon closer to its most impressive victory of 2023.
As good as the first conference win is – and this was a great one to get – a harder challenge awaits on Sunday in No. 25 Arizona State (8-2, 0-0 Pac-12) in Tempe at 10 a.m. PT. It’s another terrific chance to build on the weekend and make an early statement to the rest of the Pac-12 that the Ducks are here to compete in 2023.
