In a unique home weekend for both the men’s and women’s tennis teams, the results were somewhat mixed. The men defeated Idaho and Portland State by scores of 5-2 and 7-0 respectively, while the women lost 4-3 in a closely contested match with Sacramento State.
The three weekend victories improved the men’s record to 5-1 in dual match play.
On Sunday against Portland State, the team proved just how dominant it can be.
The day started with a bang, as the Ducks won all three of their doubles matches. Seniors Marcos Verdasco and Alexander Cornelissen led the way with an 8-3 victory over Portland State juniors Chris Rice and Sean Eberle, while the other two matches went just as smoothly.
With the doubles point already in hand, the Ducks were not ready to let up. Not one singles match went past the second set, as Oregon dominated from the start. Verdasco defeated Rice 6-1, 6-1, while Cornelissen overwhelmed junior Alex VanDerschelden 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Aaron Clissold also made it through his match without losing a game, and no Oregon player lost more than two games in any of their sets.
“We knew we were going to be the stronger team,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “Our guys just took care of business and treated it like any other match, and just overpowered them.”
Things did not come quite as easily against Idaho on Saturday, but the Ducks still came away with a 5-2 win. Oregon once again swept through doubles play and went on to win four of the six singles matches. Unlike Sunday, many of the singles matches went down to the wire. All but one lasted three sets, and the day proved to be an effective measure of Oregon’s stamina.
Cornelissen dropped a closely contested first set 6-7 to senior Artem Kuznetsov, but caught fire in the second and won the next two sets by a score of 6-0, 6-0. Verdasco also labored through a three-setter, eventually overcoming junior Lachlan Reed 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Clissold and junior Duncan MacDonald-Korth also came away with victories.
The women, meanwhile, opened the weekend on Friday against their toughest opponent yet, as Sacramento State came to Eugene ranked No. 59 in the country. The Ducks currently stand at No. 72, and they knew that the Hornets would provide a challenge.
The night did not get off to a promising start when Oregon was swept in doubles play. Already down a point, the Ducks would have to rally in singles play to earn a win.
The Hornets won two singles matches early on, and needed only one more to earn a match victory. The Ducks also won two, leaving sophomore Trudie du Toit and freshman Patricia Skowronski as the last two Oregon players on the court.
Skowronski fought through a seesaw match, finally winning 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6). Thus, the fate of the match came down to du Toit and Sacramento State’s sophomore Tatsiana Kapshai. Kapshai finally won 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-2, giving the Hornets a narrow 4-3 victory overall.
“We had kids battle pretty hard, just came up a little bit short in some of the matches,” head coach Paul Reber said. “That’s going to happen … unfortunately, somebody’s got to lose in a tough match.”
The men also won against Seattle Sunday evening, by a score of 7-0. The women beat Nevada on Sunday 6-1.
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