It was a four-and-a-half hour rollercoaster ride when No. 53 Oregon women’s tennis (11-8, 2-5 Big Ten) hosted the No. 60 Northwestern Wildcats (11-7, 4-3 Big Ten) on a cold afternoon in Eugene. Northwestern appeared to have it in the bag, leading 3-1 with Patsy Daughters and Bridget Mihulka both down a set, but with the other matches done, the two remaining Oregon players fought all the way back to tie it. Mihulka just didn’t quite have enough in her third tiebreaker as the Wildcats went on to win 4-3.

“We’re definitely a little bit hurt,” Juliet Santitto said. “It was a long, gritty match. We’re really proud of everyone. Everyone competed, did the best they could to the last point.”

Doubles was closely contested, but the Ducks had what it took to claim a 2-1 win.

After a tight start, Virginia Crocker and Mihulka jumped to a nice lead, cruising to a 6-2 victory. Tilde Jagare and Olivia Symons were trailing 3-1 in their match before coming back to tie it. Their opponents retook the lead from there to win 6-3. 

Hinata Furutani and Santitto were in a close battle. Neither side led by more than a game until Furutani and Santitto took a 5-3 lead. Their opponents were ready with a response, but they still had enough to give Oregon the doubles point with a 6-4 win.

In singles, Northwestern found its footing. Crocker fell behind early and could not put up a fight, losing the first set 6-2. She fell behind again in her second set and once again had nothing go her way, losing 6-1 to conclude her match.

Symons was trailing from the start. She kept it close at times, but never made it over the hump, losing her first set 6-3. The second set was much closer, but Symons still didn’t have enough as she was defeated 6-4 to close out her match.

Furutani was in a tight battle to start, but her opponent eventually took over, winning the first set 6-2. She took the lead to start the second set and had no trouble evening up her match with a 6-1 win. Furutani fell behind in the final set and never found her groove again as she was defeated 6-1 to end her match.

Jagare had the lead early and never let up, winning the first set 6-2. She fell behind in her second set and could not get anything going as she was shut out 6-0. Jagare took the lead to start the final set, but her opponent stayed on her heels, eventually tying it at four. Jagare was not going away as she pulled back ahead 6-4 to give the Ducks their first singles point of the match.

Daughters took an early lead, but her opponent came back to tie it before moving ahead. Daughters would lose her first set 6-3. Her opponent took the early lead in the second set, but she came back to tie it at five and they would go to a tiebreaker and Daughters forced a third set with a 7-2 win. The final set was tightly contested from the start. Neither side had more than a one-game lead until Daughters moved ahead 5-3, but her opponent came back to force another tiebreaker, where she won 7-4 to even up the match at three.

After a 1-1 tie, Mihulka jumped ahead 4-1. Her opponent battled back after that and eventually tied it at five. They proceeded to a tiebreaker, where Mihulka was crushed by her opponent 7-1 to close out the first set.

The second set was very close. Neither side led by more than a game until Mihulka took a 5-3 lead, but her opponent came back to take a 6-5 lead. Mihulka forced another tiebreaker and this time, she capitalized 7-2 to force a third set.

She took the early lead in the final set, but her opponent stayed right with her before tying it at four. Her opponent took a one-game lead, but Mihulka wasn’t done. They played a third tiebreaker, which her opponent edged out 7-4 to end the match.

The Ducks travel to Los Angeles to face the UCLA Bruins April 3 at noon.