University of Oregon
Northern Arizona
Oregon Sweeps NAU, 7-0, to Start 2009 Season
01/16/09 | Men's Tennis
EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon men's tennis team did not lose a single set in a 7-0 sweep of head coach Nils Schyllander's alma mater, Northern Arizona, on Friday morning at the Oregon tennis complex.
Marcos Verdasco and Alexander Cornelissen looked especially strong, knocking off NAU's No. 39 ranked doubles team to start the day and then both winning big in their No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches, 6-1, 6-0, and 6-0, 6-2, respectively. Oregon's lone senior, Mikael Myrhed, also dominated in singles play, winning his match against NAU's Jake Tracy 6-0, 6-2, at No. 6 singles.
Oregon will be in action again today, taking on in-state rival Portland State at 5 p.m. at the Oregon Tennis Complex.
See below for the live blog of today's match for more information.
After a fall season of tournaments and travel, its officially time for the Oregon men's tennis duals season to kick-off. Your media services intern extraordinaire, Joe Waltasti, will be at the Oregon Tennis Complex all day to bring you action live from Oregon's pair of matches today against Northern Arizona and Portland State. The Ducks' warm-up CD this morning featured both Kanye West's "Good Life" and U2's "Beautiful Day" and the optimism and good spirits in the tunes is reflected on the courts.
Get ready to wear out your refresh
button this morning, as I will bring you all the day's events in rich,
buttery text-form goodness. I'm also on PA duty today and with the
international flavor of the line-ups, I'm practicing my speech like Ron
Burgundy on assignment in Eastern Europe (Unique-New York...).
First, the line-ups for the morning match. (Officials today are Steve Halberg, Edwin Jaffarian, Bill Haskins (singles only) and Dennis Kviz)
Singles:
No. 1 - UO Marcos Verdasco vs. NAU Chris Arena
No. 2 - UO Alexander Cornelissen vs. Andrew Reiff
No. 3 - UO Ayrton Wibowo vs. NAU Jaco Visagie
No. 4 - UO Jose' Izquierdo vs. NAU Robin Pezzulto
No. 5 - UO Duncan MacDonlad-Korth vs. NAU David Flodberg
No. 6 - UO Mikael Myrhed vs. NAU Jake Tracy
Doubles:
No. 1 - UO Verdasco/Cornelissen vs. NAU Visagie/Arena
No. 2 - UO Mortera/Wibowo vs. NAU Pezzulto/Reiff
No. 3 - UO MacDonald-Korth/Myrhed vs. NAU Flodberg/Tracy
We'll kick things off today with doubles competition, as the Ducks enter the courts in all white unis today.
Doubles Play
Court 1: MacDonald-Korth/Myrhed vs. Flodberg/Tracy (Oregon win, 8-5)
10:15
- The Ducks take the first point in this set, the only Duck team to do
so but NAU ties the frame at 1-1 ... 10:19 - MacDonald-Korth's powerful
serve and height at the net proves valuable as his team goes up 2-1 ...
10:25 - NAU's Flodberg and Tracy win the fourth point to tie the set at
2-2 but the Ducks have jumped to a 30-love lead in the fifth point ...
10:27 - Oregon has taken another 3-2 lead as all courts now have the
Ducks on top ... 10:34 - The action on court one is turning out to be
the most intense as NAU has tied the set at 3-3 but Oregon has jumped
out to a 40-love lead in the seventh point ... 10:35 - Myrhed puts the
point away and gives his team a 4-3 lead ... 10:39 - The match stays
tight to my far left as NAU has just tied the set at 4-4 ... 10:42 -
Advantage Ducks in the ninth game and MacDonald-Korth finishes the
point with his trademark over-the-head smash, Oregon up 5-4 ... 10:48 -
Director of Tennis Nils Schyllander is posted up next to court one to
watch the most exciting doubles match of the day as MacDonald-Korth and
Myrhed have won a pair of points after going down early and are now up
6-4 ... 10:53 - The Ducks have now all accumulated around court one to
watch the final doubles match and cheer on MacDonald-Korth and Myrhed
... Its seems to be working as the pair are now up 7-5 and trying to
put the icing on a doubles sweep to start the season ... 10:57 - And
thats it for the doubles point folks, as Oregon pulls out an 8-5 victory to take all three doubles matches ... QUEUE THE FIGHT SONG!
Court 2: Verdasco/Cornelissen vs. Visagie/Arena (Oregon win, 8-3)
Visagie
and Arena are currently the No. 39 ranked doubles team in the nation
right now, so the Ducks are bringing in stiff competition early in the
season to prepare for the Pac-10 slate ... 10:15 - Oregon falls in the
first point but rallies back to tie the set at 1-1 ... 10:19 - NAU has
jumped out ahead again to take the third point in a back-and-forth set
... 10:24 - Verdasco and Cornelissen are starting to gel as they breeze
through the fourth point to tie the set at 2-2 ... 10:26 - Verdasco and
Cornelissen skunk their opponents in the fifth point to take a 3-2 lead
and have won back-to-back points for the first time today ... 10:31 -
Oregon is pulling ahead with Verdasco holding his serve once again and
Oregon now up 4-2 in the set ... 10:34 - Oregon breaks the NAU serve to
take a 5-2 lead at center court ... 10:38 - Action is nearly over in
the middle as Verdasco and Cornelissen are mowing through their match
against ranked oppoenents, taking a 6-2 lead ... 10:47 - Its now 7-3 on
center court with the score at 15-15 and NAU needs a big comeback to
protect its ranking ... 10:49 - The match at center court is over and
Oregon has taken the doubles point against NAU, Verdasco and
Cornelissen share a had-to-have-been-practiced handshake after the
victory, 8-3 over the No. 39 ranked doubles team in the nation.
Court 3: Mortera/Wibowo vs. Pezzulto/Reiff (Oregon win, 8-3)
10:15 - Similar to the play at center court, this match is up-and-down for the Ducks as they are tied 1-1 after two points ... 10:19 - NAU jumps ahead early in the point and takes the third game to go up 2-1 ... 10:24 - With Mortera serving and Wibowo at the net, the Ducks are playing strong and take the fourth point to tie the set at 2-2 ... 10:27 - Mortera and Wibowo pull ahead after going down 30-love to start the point and have now taken a 3-2 lead in their first set ... 10:29 - Things are working now for the Ducks on court 3 with Mortera on the serve again and Wibowo playing the net as they have jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first set after Wibowo killed an over the head shot across court ... 10:32 - Wibowo has amazing power for a freshman, as he just blasted a backhand that buried into the NAU player's gut ... 10:33 - Wibowo follows that up with some soft touch at the net and the NAU return digs into the net to give the Ducks a 5-2 lead in the set ... 10:37 - NAU is not giving up as the squad of Pezzulto and Reiff has just batttled back from 40-15 to win the point and make the set stand at 5-3 ... 10:45 - NAU just cannot break an Oregon serve and cannot protect its own as Oregon wraps up the match on court three with an 8-3 Duck winner.
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After a little more Kanye West during the break, all six courts at the (thankfully) Indoor and Heated Oregon Tennis Complex will be in use for the singles session. Clearly the Ducks were inspired by my completion of a fantastic (horizontal lay-out - CRAZY!) media guide and a full-on magazine-style photoshoot for said guide last Sunday. Oregon heads into the singles matches with a 1-0 lead on the Lumberjacks (wait a sec - aren't they in the desert and we're in the Pacific Northwest?).
11:10 a.m. - One minute left in singles
warm-ups and we will be back underway in Eugene. It's really nice to
see a steady stream of students filtering in and out of the Tennis
Complex, taking in some Oregon tennis in between lecture halls.
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Singles Play
No. 1 Verdasco vs. Arena (6-1, 6-0)
11:30
- So afar so good for Oregon returning All Pac-10 Honorable Mention, as
he has built a 4-1 lead after Arena matched him 1-1 to begin the set
... 11:37 - Verdasco is looking strong at No. 1 singles for the Ducks,
smoking Arena 6-1 in the first set ... 11:41 - Verdasco has continued
his onslaught at center court, putting up a 2-0 lead to begin the
second set ... 11:52 - Verdasco is still cruising, up 5-0 now in the
second set ... 11:57 - Yikes, make that a 6-0 drubbing in the second
set for Verdasco - a very impressive performance on the day thus far
for the junior.
No. 2 Cornelissen vs. Reiff (6-0, 6-2)
11:19
- Cornelissen has carried over his success on the doubles court to his
singles match, opening up a 3-0 lead in quick fashion in the first set
... 11:28 - Alex is absolutely dominating in the first set, blasting
ahead to a 6-0 win in the first set and rarely letting Reiff even make
contact ... 11:42 - Oh no, what's going on? After jumping ahead 2-0 in
the second set Reiff has finally put a digit on the scoreboard with the
score now at 2-1 ... 11:52 - The streak is over for Reiff as
Cornelissen strung together two great points to go up 4-1 in the second
set ... 11:55 - Cornelissen is running his opponent ragged, staying put
in the middle of the court while his side-to-side forehands has Reiff
running from corner to corner to make volley ... 12:00 - Cornelissen
wraps up his day with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Reiff, giving him and his
doubles partner, Verdasco, a pair of dynamic victories against the
Lumberjacks.
No. 3 Wibowo vs. Visagie (6-1, 6-3)
11:31
- Ayrton is looked in the most difficult match set of the day, with
points taking far longer to finish than on any other court, but the
freshman currently holds a small 2-1 lead on fellow freshman Visagie
... 11:50 - After plodding through the first few games, Wibowo took
charge and won four straight points to win his first collegiate set 6-1
... 12:05 - Wibowo continues to pick up the pace and leads 3-1 in the second set ... 12:13 - Wibowo is struggling and Visagie has tied the second set at 3-3 ... 12:20 - A huge moment in the match happens at the end of the seventh points - with Visagie holding the advantage and trying to take his third straight set, Wibowo wins a long volley with a reaching lob to the far back opposite corner of the court and goes on to earn the advantage himself and finish off the point to go up 4-3 in the second set ... 12:23 - With the momentum back, Wibowo blanks Visagie in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and put himself just one point away from his first collegiate victory ... 12:26 - Wibowo finishes strong and pulls out a 6-3 win the second set after Visagie tied it 3-3.
No.4 Izquierdo vs. Pezzulto (6-3, 6-3)
11:21 - Pepe',
as his friends and teammates call him, seems to have drawn the biggest
crowd as the recent freshman import from Madrid is making his first
appearance in an Oregon uniform ... Coach Schyllander described his
forehand as "so heavy, it's ridiculous." ... 11:38 - Izquierdo is still
setting in his first collegiate match, with a 4-3 lead in the first set
... Pepe's powerful serve seems to landing consistently now as the
Spaniard is up 5-3 in the first set ... 11:50 - The freshman was won
his first collegiate set, 6-3 over Pezzulto, also a freshman ... 12:01
- Izquierdo has fallen 0-2 inthe second set and Coach Schyllander calls
time to speak with his newest player ... 12:08 - Izquierdo's volleys are narrowly missing - just a bit long or plunging into the white stripe of the net - and you can see the frustration building in the 6-foot-4 Spaniard ... 12:21 - The tides are turning for the freshman, as Izquierdo battles back to take a 4-3 lead in the second set but he is still having some accuracy issues and fortunately so is Pezzulto ... 12:25 - Izquierdo is really making Pezzulto work, sending him back and forth on the baseline, Pepe' leads 5-3 now in the second set ... 12:34 - Izquierdos big serve finishes off Pezzulto, giving the big freshman his first collegiate victory, 6-3, 6-3.
No. 5 MacDonald-Korth vs. Flodberg (6-3, 6-4)
11:35
- MacDonald-Korth, like Wibowo in the early going, is locked in a tight
match with Flodberg with the Duck sophomore and team captain currently
holding a 3-1 lead ... 11:53 - Only this match is still in the first
set, as MacDonald-Korth is up 5-2 on Flodberg ... 11:59 - MacDonald-Korth finishes off Flodberg for a 6-3 first set win ... 12:11 - After going up 2-1 in a thus-far grueling second set, MacDonald-Korth sucks back some Gatorade and eats a banana to refuel ... 12:27 - MacDonald-Korth continues to pull away with a 4-2 lead in the second set ... 12:34 - MacDonald-Korth vs. Flodberg is the last match of the morning and both the Ducks and Lumberjacks are looking on as Oregon's sophomore holds a small 5-4 lead inthe second set ... 12:36 - With his teammates looking on, MacDonald-Korth iced the match with a serve that Flodberg returned long to give Oregon a clean sweep - 7-0 - over NAU to open the season.
No. 6 Myrhed vs. Tracy (6-0, 6-2)
