It was a rough weekend for Oregon tennis, as the men and women lost four of their five combined matches. The men (10-3) defeated Nevada 5-2 on Sunday, but lost to No. 23 Washington on Friday by a score of 5-2. The women (5-7), meanwhile, lost all three of their matches over the weekend.
The men welcomed Pacific-10 Conference foe Washington into Eugene late Friday afternoon. The match got off to a promising start, as the Ducks narrowly edged the Huskies for the doubles point. Things did not go so well during singles play, during which Washington took five of the six matches. Senior Alexander Cornelissen was the only Oregon player to earn a victory in singles play, defeating Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, and the Ducks lost the match 5-2.
Things turned around for the men on Sunday, as they edged Nevada in a match that lasted more than three hours. Though the Ducks lost the doubles point early, they went on to win five of the six singles matches to seal the victory.
The women had a busy weekend on the road, playing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They started at Purdue on Friday, and fell into an early hole after losing the doubles point. The Boilermakers also went on to win the first three singles matches, which effectively ended the match for the Ducks. Though Oregon would win its last three singles matches, Purdue went on to win the match 4-3.
Things would not improve at No. 23 Indiana on Saturday. The Ducks again lost the doubles point and the Hoosiers took three of the singles matches for a 4-3 match victory. Freshman Julia Metzger and sophomore Trudie du Toit had strong showings, but it was not enough for Oregon.
On Sunday, the road-weary Ducks suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of No. 17 Ohio State. The Buckeyes quickly captured the doubles point by winning the first two matches, and three more singles victories were enough to fend off the Ducks. Two of the singles matches were not finished, as the match was already decided.
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