No. 51 Oregon men’s tennis (14-10, 5-8 Big Ten) celebrated Senior Day in its regular season finale at home against the No. 20 USC Trojans (18-6, 10-3 Big Ten). After a strong doubles performance, the Ducks could not maintain the advantage in singles and were defeated 4-1. Four of the six singles matches stayed within one game for most of the first set, but all but one USC player took over by the end.

Oregon threw the first punch, winning doubles 2-1 after two fairly lopsided matches.

Cameron Burton and Sam Olszakowski dropped their first game before moving ahead. They’re opponents had one more in them, but Burton and Olszakowski were in full control, winning 6-2. Pierre Mouesca and Lachlan Robertson were behind to start. They put up a fight late, but fell short 6-3. Vlad Breazu and Declan Galligan took the early lead and never looked back, winning 6-1 to give Oregon the doubles point.

The Ducks continued to fight throughout singles, keeping many of their matches close, but they didn’t have enough to pull off the upset.

Mouesca took a 4-1 lead early, but his opponent fought back and tied it. When facing set point, Mouesca called a ball out of bounds, but the ref overruled it, which allowed his opponent to tie the set. They went to a tiebreaker, where Mouesca capitalized 7-2 to take the first set.

“I was pretty mad,” Mouesca said. “I thought that was not very fair. Besides that, I’m happy for winning that first set.”

Mouesca fell behind to start the second set. He was mounting a comeback, drawing a loud crowd behind him, but the match went unfinished.

“Everyone showed up today,” Mouesca said. “The support was absolutely amazing. I thank all the fans who came out today. That was one of the best atmospheres I ever played in.”

Galligan was trailing early and never stood a chance in his first set, losing 6-2. He fell behind again in the second set and could not put anything together, losing 6-0 to end his match.

Olszakowski was in a close one to start, but his opponent took over to win the first set 6-2. His second set stayed close throughout but he still came up short 6-4 to end his match.

Robertson went back and forth with his opponent in the first set before hitting a bump in the road and losing 6-3. He fought hard again in his second set, but a three-game run by his opponent closed out their match 6-4.

Burton had a close match with his opponent where neither side led by more than a game. They were tied at five, but his opponent pulled ahead to win 7-5. His opponent was in control for most of the second set, but it would not be finished.

Breazu was in a tight battle from the start, but eventually lost control and was beaten 6-3 in the first set. He stayed in the fight a lot longer in his second set, but was defeated 7-5 as USC claimed the match.

The Ducks travel to Ojai, California and await their opponent for the Big Ten Tournament, which will begin April 23.