It just felt like the day was going to be decided by the doubles point.
It felt that way long before the heartracing singles matches. It felt like that before Oregon rallied in doubles play to collect the aforementioned point. It felt that way before the team stormed the court as Uxia Martinez Moral finished the winning set. It felt like the Ducks’ sixth match of the season was going to be dictated by doubles play before a ball was ever hit.
After all, it was two Power Five schools facing off on Friday at the Student Tennis Center. It was two teams that are unranked, but certainly deserve to be in the conversation. Oregon (4-2) knocked off Iowa (3-2) 4-1 in a hard-fought match in which every set, every possession and every hit mattered.
“Heading into this weekend, we knew we were going to start playing harder teams,” Martinez Moral said. “We came out focused with the idea that it was going to be a battle, and it definitely was.”
Martinez Moral and Sophie Luescher got ahead and never let Iowa back in their doubles match. The Ducks’ duo went up 3-0 before Marisa Schmidt and Anya Lamoreaux started to mount a comeback. The Hawkeyes brought the score back to 2-4 before Martinez Moral wowed the Student Tennis Center with the play of the day. On a hard-hit spike from Lamoreaux, Martinez Moral made a full extension play. With her back turned to the net, she reached up, jumped and hit the ball just hard enough for a return. Iowa couldn’t recover, and the rally was cut short. Martinez Moral and Luescher went on to win their doubles match 6-2.
“[Martinez Moral]’s incredible out there,” Oregon head coach Courtney Nagle said. “She’s really fun to watch and she really makes her opponents earn it. It’s really hard to get the ball past her.”
A doubles win from Jo-Yee Chan and Ares Teixido Garcia capped off the doubles point victory for the Ducks. Chan and Teixido Garcia fell behind Samantha Mannix and Pia Kranholdt 1-3, but an impressive rally by Chan and Teixido Garcia smothered Iowa’s last hope in doubles play. Chan and Teixido Garcia improved to 4-0 on the season and gave Oregon the crucial doubles point. Headed into Friday, the Ducks were undefeated when getting the doubles point and winless without it.
Nagle said the doubles point is crucial for confidence building. It was a good thing the Ducks had it on Friday. Things could have easily gone the other way without it.
Lillian Mould got her first action of the spring season on Friday. She and Misaki Kobayashi teamed up for a doubles match. They were trailing Daianne Hayashida and Vipasha Mehra 4-5 when the Ducks clinched the doubles point and their match was left unfinished.
“We’re glad to have [Mould] back out on the court,” Nagle said. “We’re looking to get her some more play coming up soon.”
Chan captured the first singles match win of the day for Oregon. She swept Lamoreaux with 6-2 and 6-3 set wins to boost her singles record to 3-1 in her freshman season. She fell behind 0-2 in both of her sets, but she fought back and kept Lamoreaux off balance and frustrated. Chan seems to be able to place the ball wherever she wants on the court with considerable power. She’s been a pleasant surprise for the Ducks so far this season. Her match finished first and extended Oregon’s lead to 2-0.
Teixido Garcia’s set finished shortly after Chan’s and had a similar result. Teixido Garcia swept Mannix with 6-2 and 7-5 set wins. She had incredible spin on her balls and forced weak returns from Mannix, which Teixido Garcia quickly polished off. Teixido Garcia has bounced between the No. 2 and No. 3 spots for the Ducks in 2023, but she’s been steady in both. Friday – from the No. 2 spot – she improved her season record to 4-2.
Each of the remaining four matches went a full three sets. Oregon only needed to win one of them, but Iowa made sure it was no easy task.
“There’s momentum shifts in tennis all the time,” Nagle said. “There were times when [Iowa] was starting to gain some momentum, but I think our girls handled that really well.”
Iowa’s Hayashida defeated Karin Young in three sets to deliver the Hawkeyes’ first point of the day. Hayashide got up 4-0 in the first set and fought off Young’s comeback for a 7-5 win. Young rebounded in the second set winning 6-1, but was overpowered 6-2 by Iowa’s standout freshman in the final set. Young fell to 2-2 on the season with the loss.
And then – as if her doubles play wasn’t impressive and important enough – Martinez Moral sealed the win for the Ducks. After winning her first set 6-2, she dropped the second one to Barbora Pokorna 6-7. In a back-and-forth third set, Martinez Moral – with all her teammates courtside cheering her on – finished off Pokorna with a 6-4 win.
“[Pokorna] started playing more aggressively in the second and third sets,” Martinez Moral said. “That really challenged me and I felt that pressure from her. I adjusted to being more aggressive like I was in the first set, and I think that was a good adjustment for me.”
Both Myah Petchey and Luescher’s matches were unfinished after Martinez Moral clinched for the Ducks. Both of them were in the third sets of their matches. Luescher was leading 3-1 and Petchey was up 2-1.
Oregon improved to 4-2 and snapped Iowa’s three-game winning streak. The Ducks are now 3-3 all time against the Hawkeyes. Oregon will play Saint Mary’s (1-0) at home on Sunday at 11 a.m.
