Ducks Close Out Regular Season With Two Matches In California

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon men's tennis team closes out the regular season in California this weekend, taking on No. 4 Stanford on Friday, April 20, followed by No. 31 California on Saturday. The Ducks have already faced both squads this year during the ITA Kick-Off weekend in January. UO lost both matches, falling to Stanford, 4-0, before a narrow 4-3 loss to the Golden Bears that went down to a third set with the match tied, 3-3.

MATCH 23: No. 36 OREGON (15-7, 3-3) vs. No. 4 STANFORD (18-2, 5-1)
Friday, April 20 | 2 p.m.
Stanford, Calif. | Taube Family Tennis Center
Live Stats: N/A
Live Video: Pac-12 Networks

MATCH 24: No. 36 OREGON (15-7, 3-3) vs. No. 31 CALIFORNIA (10-7, 2-3)
Saturday, April 21 | 1 p.m.
Berkeley, Calif. | Hellman Tennis Complex
Live Stats: calbears.com
Live Video: calbears.com

LAST TIME OUT
The Ducks opened their road trip with a 4-3 thriller at No. 35 Utah. UO started off the match by securing the doubles point behind wins from the pairs of Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry along with Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent. With both squads recording one doubles win each, the point came down to Clissold and Laurent who went on to down Utah's Egbert Weverink and Joe Wolloey in a tiebreaker set, 7-6(3).

That point would prove to be essential as Utah jumped out to a 2-0 lead with back-to-back wins to open singles play. Gentry and freshman Riki Oshima managed to put UO back in front, winning second-set tiebreakers to give the Ducks a 3-2 edge. After Akihiro Tanaka fell in his third-set tiebreaker to tie the match at 3-3, it all came down to Laurent at the No. 1 spot. In a third set of his own, Laurent managed to blow through Utah's Dan Little, 6-1, to record the three set victory and clinch the win for UO.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Ducks jumped up five spots in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings, heading into the final weekend of the regular season ranked No. 36.

After picking up their seventh straight victory, fourth at the No. 1 spot, Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent rose to No. 33 in the doubles rankings. UO's new career doubles team wins record holders, the duo is 23-6 overall and 15-4 in dual play.

In the singles rankings, Laurent remained steady at No. 24. He is currently 15-4 this spring season, having won six of his last seven singles matches.

WHERE THE CARDS FALL
The Ducks have made waves in the Pac-12 standings, winning three of their last four conference matches. After improving to 3-3 following their win over Utah, the Ducks jumped up to fourth in the conference standings. In order to finish the season in fourth, Oregon has to record at least a weekend split. With California ranked fifth just behind UO, the Ducks' best chance to remain in fourth is to defeat the Golden Bears. If Oregon splits the weekend and earns the No. 4 seed, they will have a first round bye at the Pac-12 tournament, facing the winner of the No. 5 and No. 8 seeds.

THAT CERTAIN JE NE SAIS QUOI
French international Thomas Laurent has enjoyed massive success the past two seasons at UO. After a sophomore campaign in which he broke the single-season wins record with a 30-7 overall record, he continued to build on his Oregon legacy this past fall, reaching the semifinals of the ITA All-Americans and ITA Fall Nationals, both program firsts. Laurent finished the fall slate 8-2 overall in singles play with five wins over ranked opponents. Laurent entered the 2018 spring season as one of the highest ranked players in program history at sixth in the nation.

This season, he is one of two players, including sophomore Ty Gentry, to record over 20 wins.He has won six of his last seven matches, including three wins over ranked opponents. Only a junior, Laurent is already sixth on the UO all-time singles wins list with a 72-19 career record. His astonishing .791 winning percentage is currently the best career winning percentage in program history. The only other Duck with a .700 or better win percentage is Jayson Amos, whose career singles record of 93-34 (.732) ranks first on the UO all-time list.

NERVE-WRACKING
The Ducks found themselves in yet another down-to-the-wire thriller in their most recent match at Utah. The 4-3 win marked the fourth time this season a match has come down to the final point. The Ducks are 2-2 in those matches, with each match decision coming down to a third set with the match tied 3-3. Thomas Laurent clinched the most recent victory with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 win at Utah. Freshman Riki Oshima secured the other victory for UO recording a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 win at Washington.

GRAB YOUR BROOMS
Following their 4-0 victory over Arizona, the Ducks have now recorded nine victories without conceding a single point. UO's single-match dominance has slowly risen since the 2010 season. In 2010, Oregon recorded three match sweeps with that number continually rising each season since, culminating in 10 perfect wins last year. With three guaranteed matches left this season, UO still has an opportunity to tie last year's shutout record.

TO BE THE BEST YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BEST
The Ducks close out the regular seaosn against some stiff competition taking on their eighth and ninth ranked opponents this year. Heading into this weekend, the Ducks are 2-5 against opponents ranked in the ITA top 50. UO's two wins came at No. 49 Washington and, most recently, at No. 35 Utah. The Ducks close out the year against No. 4 Stanford marking the second top five opponent Oregon has faced this season. The first match was against No. 4 UCLA. The Ducks lost that match to the Bruins 4-1, with senior Cormac Clissold recording the only Duck victory. The Ducks will have to record at least one more ranked win this weekend in order to solidify a first round bye in the Pac-12 tournament.

UO-SHIMA
Freshman Riki Oshima has been on a tear for the Ducks as of late. After a 5-5 start to the season, Oshima has won his last six singles matches for an 11-5 record this spring. In that span, he has clinched two match victories for Oregon. First, he secured UO's first conference win and first ranked win of the year at No. 49 Washington. With the match tied 3-3, it came down to the Toyama, Japan native, who fought off match point in a second set tiebreaker to force a decisive third set. Oshima and UW's Alexis Alvarez traded games in the final set until they were knotted at 4-4. Oshima managed to close it out by winning the final two games to take the match, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

In the Ducks' match against Arizona, it was Oshima once again who clinched the victory for UO. After flying out to a 3-0 lead against the Wildcats, Oshima recorded a 6-4, 7-5 win at the No. 6 spot to secure the match sweep, 4-0. At Utah, he was essential once again recording a 6-3, 7-6 win to give the Ducks a 3-2 edge and set the match up for a dramatic finish.

WHAT'S A SOPHOMORE SLUMP?
Sophomore Ty Gentry has enjoyed some massive success during his second year at Oregon. After finishing his freshman season 11-10 overall, Gentry has flipped a switch going 22-4 in singles play this year. One of two Ducks with 20 or more wins, he opened the spring season with a 10-match winning streak dating back to the fall. With his 22 wins this season, the Olympia, Wash., native is currently tied for 11th on the UO single-season wins list. If he can record wins in all three of Oregon's remaining guaranteed matches, he will jump into fourth on the single-season list.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend's matches, the Ducks will wait to see where they will be seeded in the Pac-12 Tournament. If UO can maintain the edge on Cal they will earn a first round bye, opening tournament play next Thursday, April 26.