University of Oregon
Stanford
Ducks Drop Heartbreaker to the Cardinal 5-2
04/06/07 | Men's Tennis
EUGENE -- Two tiebreakers, five points. Had they gone Oregon's way on Friday afternoon they would have had the 4-3 match win, but Stanford was able to take the points and the Pac-10 dual match, 5-2, held Friday at the Outdoor Tennis Courts.
Geoff Embry and Francisco Gallardo were the two Ducks involved in tiebreakers at the No. 4 and No. 6 positions respectively which decided the outcome of the team match.
Gallardo would take his to the absolute edge as he fell 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (5) to Jeff Zeller and Embry would fall 7-4 in his tiebreak and lose his match 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to Eric McKean. Bought matches were hard fought and the courts were raucous toward the end as a crowd gathered around the respective courts that gave the matches a palpable intensity.
"A couple of points here and there and we win that match," director of tennis Nils Schyllander said. "I am really proud of those guys, they battled hard and left it all on the court."
The Ducks dropped the doubles point, two matches to one, which put them in a hole early, but Alexander Cornelissen quickly finished off Richard Wire, 6-1, 6-2 to even the match for the Ducks.
Stanford would win the next two matches in straight sets as Matt Bruch defeated Francisco Gallardo, 6-4, 6-1 and Ric Mortera fell to Blake Muller 6-3, 6-2. With Stanford leading 3-1, the three remaining matches would all go to third sets and sophomore Mike Myrhed's 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 defeat of Kevin Kaiser at the No. 5 position would set up the climatic finish.
The Ducks take to the court again tomorrow as they face the California Golden Bears at 1 p.m. on the Outdoor Tennis Courts, weather permitting.
Stanford 5, Oregon 2
Doubles:
No. 1: Matt Bruch/Blake Muller (Stanford) def. Marcos Verdasco/ Francisco Gallardo (Oregon), 8-5
No. 2: Geoff Embry/Alexander Cornelissen (Oregon) def. Richard Wire/ Paul Morissey (Stanford), 8-6
No. 3: Eric McKean/Kevin Kaiser (Stanford) def. Ric Mortera/Stephen Wiechert (Oregon), 8-4
OOF: 3, 1, 2
Singles:
No. 1: Richard Wire (Stanford) def. Marcos Verdasco (Oregon), 6-4, 6-1
No. 2: Alexander Cornelissen (Oregon) def. Blake Muller (Stanford), 6-1, 6-2
No. 3: Eric McKean (Stanford) def. Ric Mortera (Oregon), 6-3, 6-2
No. 4: Kevin Kaiser (Stanford) def. Geoff Embry (Oregon), 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4)
No. 5: Mike Myrhed (Oregon) def. Jeff Zeller (Stanford), 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
No. 6: Dave Ryan def. Francisco Gallardo (Oregon), 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (5)
OOF: 2, 3, 1, 5, 6, 4
Players Mentioned
