Last season’s match between the University of Utah and the Oregon Ducks featured a heroic comeback from Oregon to shock Utah with a 4-3 win. Sunday’s match in Eugene featured similar dramatics as the No. 47 Ducks (10-4, 3-1 Pac-12) snuck past No. 50 Utah (10-6, 1-2 Pac-12) with a 4-2 win to collect their third conference win of the season.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Oregon head coach Courtney Nagle said. “Last year it was a battle down to the end, so even though we got the doubles point handedly, we knew they weren’t going to go down without a fight.”
Nagle was spot on with her recap of the doubles point. The Ducks – who are undefeated this season when winning said point – skunked the Utes in duos play to go ahead 1-0.
Jo-Yee Chan and Ares Teixido Garcia got back on track after losing their first doubles match of the season Friday against Colorado. On Sunday, the two defeated Utah’s Samantha Horwood and Katya Townsend 6-0 to improve to 10-2 on the season.
Myah Petchey and Karin Young secured Oregon’s second double set win with a 6-1 victory over Marcela Lopez and Kaila Barksdale. The win – Petchey and Young’s second of the weekend and fourth of the season together – clinched one of the fastest doubles points of the season so far.
Uxia Martinez Moral and Sophie Luescher were locked in a 4-4 tie in their match against Anastasia Goncharova and Madison Tattini. The match was left unfinished as the Ducks won the doubles point and shifted their focus to singles play.
Oregon needed to win three of the six singles sets to beat Utah and secure its second win over a ranked opponent in 2023. Thanks to efforts from Young, Martinez Moral and Luescher, the Ducks got it done.
Young was the first to win her match and get Oregon on the board in singles play. She swept Lopez with 6-3 and 6-2 wins. Lopez looked frantic and lost while Young’s composure and accuracy sent her scrambling all over the court. Young’s win put Oregon up 2-0 and improved Young’s singles record to 4-3.
Utah got on the board with Tattini’s win over Teixido Garcia in the No. 2 spot. Teixido Garcia was swept with 5-7 and 2-6 set losses and suffered her fifth loss of the season. Tattini’s win gave the Utes a spark and brought the score to a 2-1 Ducks lead.
Chan’s loss in the No. 6 spot was the next match to conclude. Horwood snuck past Chan in three hardfought sets. Horwood won the first set 6-1, Chan won the second 7-5 and Horwood rallied in the third set for a 6-4 win. Sunday was just Chan’s second loss of the season, and she’s now 9-2 on the year. Horwood evened the score for the Utes and increased the tension in the Student Tennis Center.
“There’s going to be days that are more challenging,” Nagle said. “There were some things that [Horwood] did that challenged her. But she’s doing great and she’s building on it.”
Martinez Moral had the first of Oregon’s major rallies on Sunday. After losing her first set in the No. 4 spot to Goncharova 3-6, she powered through the final two sets to collect 7-5 and 6-1 wins and put the Ducks back in front. Martinez Moral is now 11-2 on the season for the Ducks in singles play.
“I don’t count anyone out on our team,” Nagle said. “I know that they’re always going to try and find a way. That’s what’s so great about this team; they have so much trust in each other and especially in moments like that. We’ve seen them [come back] time and time again.”
And then Luescher – in the No. 1 spot – completed a top notch comeback of her own to cap off the 4-2 win for the Ducks. After losing her first set to Townsend 4-6, Luescher fought in one of the tightest sets of the day to win her second set 7-6 (8-6) and capped Utah’s rally with a 6-3 third set win as nearly the entire team watched from the nearest possible area.
“[The support of teammates] is so nice in college tennis,” Luescher said. “They trust you and encourage you and give you a lot of energy.”
Petchey’s match with Barksdale was left unfinished with Petchey leading 1-0 in the third set. Petchey won a crucial first set – and one of the more impressive sets of the season – when Oregon was trailing and needed it most.
“It was huge not only for her, but for the momentum of the match,” Nagle said. “To be up in that set and to give more fire to the ones that were trying to come back was huge.”
As the Ducks rushed the court to celebrate with Luescher, a cheer rose from the passionate crowd that had formed at the Student Tennis Center. The cheer was mixed with a sigh of relief. Oregon’s toughest opponents of the season – the California schools – still await the Ducks at the end of the year. If Oregon hopes to compete with or upset these teams, wins over quality opponents are a must.
Sunday was a perfect test to see where the Ducks are at in comparison to the rest of the Pac-12. The team showed today that it has the ability to hang with and come back against solid competition.
“[Starting 3-1 in conference play] is big,” Luescher said. “It’s super good for the team, but also we need to stay focused on taking it one at a time.”
Oregon has a break after its biggest home win of the season. The Ducks return to action on Mar 29 when they host Idaho (3-9, 1-2 Big Sky).
