Ducks Drop Heartbreaker To Washington State

Sunday, March 11

Eugene, OR

11:00 AM

University of Oregon

Washington State

Tobita never trailed in the third set en route to her third win this spring over a ranked opponent.

03/11/18 | Women's Tennis

EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 21 Oregon women's tennis team suffered its first home and Pac-12 setback of the season, falling to visiting Washington State, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon.

The win snaps a five-match win streak for the Ducks (10-4), while the Cougars move to 15-1 on the season with their eighth consecutive victory.

How It Happened: Oregon raced out to a 1-0 lead by quickly taking the doubles point. The combo of sophomore Julia Eshet and junior Shweta Sangwan cruised to a 6-1 win to improve to 3-0 in the spring. Just minutes later, senior Alyssa Tobita and sophomore Rifanty Kahfiani clinched the doubles point for the Ducks with an identical 6-1 win.

Washington State produced the first singles point to tie the match at 1-1, but Eshet gave the lead back to Oregon with her second straight-set singles win of the weekend and fourth victory in a row. Playing at the No. 4 spot, Eshet lost the first point in the opening set and then delivered six straight points to take control of the match. She again fell behind in the second set, but, again, closed strong for the 6-1, 6-3 win over Washington State's Barbora Michalkova.

Half of the singles matches went to a third set with the first of three going in favor of the Cougars to make it 2-2.

Tobita claimed the second three-set match, taking down No. 49 Michaela Bayerlova 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, to give the Ducks a 3-2 edge. It marked the seventh time in her last nine matches that Tobita has taken on a ranked opponent as she improved to 9-4 in the spring. After losing the second set, Tobita never trailed in the third, scoring the last three points for the win.

The match came down to the No. 2 singles spot where Sangwan and Washington State's Guzal Yusupova battled for just over three hours at center court. Trailing 5-1 in the third set, Sangwan rallied to tie the score at 5-5 after breaking Yusupova's serve twice en route to four straight points. Despite Sangwan's rally, Yusupova gathered herself and was able to close out the match and the win for the Cougars with a 7-5 final set.

Notable: Eshet's four-game win streak in singles is her longest of the spring and one shy of her fall-best of five. Tobita has now defeated three ranked opponents in the spring and moved into a tie for fourth in program history in career wins with 72.

Up Next: Oregon will hit the road for the first time in Pac-12 action when it travels to Los Angeles to take on USC and UCLA. The Ducks will open the trip on Friday, March 16, at USC (1:30 p.m.).