The Oregon men’s tennis team headed into Sunday with a chance to put a punctuation mark on its strong start to the 2017 season.
Instead, the Ducks will have to settle with a weekend split after falling to No. 9 Texas, 4-2.
The loss especially hurts for Oregon (3-1), as a win over Texas (6-1) would have earned the team a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Playing in the Austin Regional of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, the Ducks earned a spot in the final after defeating Rice 4-2 on Saturday. Texas beat Drake to advance to the final.
The Ducks got off to a fast start against the No. 9-ranked Longhorns, taking the doubles point for the early 1-0 lead. Armando Saemarno and Jayson Amos scored first for Oregon, defeating Christian Sigsgaard and Julian Zlobinsky, 6-2. Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold clinched the doubles point. The pair took down Yuya Ito and Harrison Scott of Texas, ranked No. 38 in the nation, 6-3. Laurent and Clissold are now 23-3 when playing together in doubles.
Oregon’s Simon Stevens and Akihiro Tanaka led UT’s George Goldhoff and Colin Markes, 5-4 when the point was clinched.
Singles didn’t fare quite as well for the Ducks. No. 36 Ito evened the match at 1-1 after taking down Oregon freshman Akihiro Tanaka easily, 6-2, 6-0. The No. 47-ranked Scott put the Longhorns ahead 2-1 after beating Amos in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. Banzer defeated Clissold, 6-4, 6-4, to extend the Texas lead to 3-1.
Ethan Young-Smith kept Oregon alive with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Zlobinsky.
The final two matches of the day would come down to the wire on Courts 1 and 2 at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. However, Stevens loss to Goldhoff (5-7, 6-3, 6-4) ended the Ducks’ comeback and chance for a win.
Not to be forgotten was Laurent’s valiant effort against Sigsgaard, the No. 6-ranked singles player in the nation. After dropping the first set 6-3, Laurent took the second set 6-4 and rallied back from a 5-2 deficit in the third and final set to take a 6-5 lead. The match was unfinished after Texas clinched the win.
Oregon returns to action when it hosts Cal Poly on Feb. 4 at 11 a.m. at the Student Tennis Center.
Oregon vs No. 9 Texas
Doubles:

1. (UO) Armando Saemarno/Jayson Amos def. (UT) Christian Sigsgaard/Julian Zlobinsky, 6-2
2. (UO) Simon Stevens/Akihiro Tanaka vs (UT) Colin Markes/George Goldhoff, unfinished
3. (UO) Thomas Laurent/Cormac Clissold def. (UT) Harrison Scott/Yuya Ito, 6-3

Oregon wins doubles point
Singles:

1. (UO) Laurent vs (UT) Sigsgaard, unfinished
2. (UT) Goldhoff def. (UO) Stevens, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
3. (UT) Scott def. (UO) Amos, 6-1, 6-2
4. (UT) Ito def. (UO) Tanaka, 6-2, 6-0
5. (UT) Banzer def. (UO) Clissold, 6-4, 6-4
6. (UO) Young-Smith def. Zlobinsky, 7-6, 6-4

Texas wins match, 4-2
Follow Cole Kundich on Twitter @ckundich