Oregon men’s tennis was quickly bounced from the Pac-12 Tournament by Utah on Wednesday.
The Ducks, who have struggled in conference play all season, could not regain their footing in the conference tournament. They entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed; Utah was the No. 8 seed.
Although the Ducks lost the match, they were able to pick up the doubles point. The Joshua Charlton and Ty Gentry tandem defeated David Micevski and Slava Shainyan 7-5. Riki Oshima and Charles Roberts took down Dan Little and Azat Hankuliyev 6-2. However, Armando Soemarno and Emmanuel Coste were defeated by Joe Woodley and Russell Benkaim.
This momentum was not carried over in single’s play. The Ducks were defeated in four consecutive matches. Micevski defeated Gentry (4-6, 6-3, 7-5), Benkaim defeated Charlton (6-4, 6-2), Mathias Gavelin took down Roberts (6-2, 6-3), and finally, Woodley earned a win against Armando Soemarno (6-3, 7-5). All other matches went unfinished. This included Coste against Little and Oshima against Shainyan.
The Ducks’ ended the season on a nine-game losing streak. Although a disappointing end to the season, the Ducks do have hope for next season. Underclassmen players Charlton and Oshima had strong seasons and will have a chance to build on this success next season.
