On a day dedicated to pranks and tricks, the men’s tennis team was not fooling around. The No. 39 Oregon Ducks (14-4, 1-2) defeated the Arizona Wildcats (6-9, 0-3) 4-0 Friday for their first conference victory this season.
After starting conference play with consecutive losses to No. 6 UCLA and No. 8 USC, the Ducks were eager to end their losing streak.
Oregon grabbed the doubles point for the 12th straight match with wins on courts No. 3 and No. 1. At No. 3, Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent earned a 6-2 victory. At court No. 1, Jayson Amos and Armando Soemarno were tied at 4-all and pulled ahead to win 6-4, defending their No. 20 ranking.
In singles, Amos defeated Trent Botha 2-0. Amos eased his way to a 6-1 victory in the first set and finished the match with a 6-2 victory in set two.
Laurent defeated Jason Jaruvang shortly thereafter, giving Oregon the 3-0 lead. Laurent controlled the entire match, finishing both sets at 6-2. The freshman tallied his 12th singles victory and his first in conference.
At court No. 6, Ethan Young-Smith gave the Ducks their fourth and final point by defeating Oliver Plaskett 2-0. The first set was back-and-forth, but Young-Smith broke the 2-2 tie and never looked back, finishing the set at 6-3. He won the second set 6-2.
The Ducks will look to build more momentum when they play their final home game this Sunday at noon against Utah.