Ducks Await NCAA Fate After Reaching Pac-12 Semis

Friday, April 27

Ojai, CA

1:00 PM

University of Oregon

UCLA

04/27/18 | Men's Tennis

Official Results: UCLA 4, Oregon 0

The Oregon men's tennis team lost 4-0 to top-seeded UCLA on Friday at the Pac-12 Tournament, and now awaits Tuesday's NCAA Tournament field announcement.

By: Rob Moseley

OJAI, Calif. – Top-seeded UCLA ended Oregon's Pac-12 Tournament run Friday afternoon, sweeping the Ducks 4-0 in the tournament semifinals.

The Ducks entered the tournament ranked No. 35 in the country, and eagerly await Tuesday evening's NCAA Tournament field announcement after bolstering their résumé with a Pac-12 quarterfinal win over California on Thursday.

How It Happened: The doubles point was fiercely contested, and UCLA clinched it to capture momentum that carried over into singles play.

Armando Soemarno and Charles Roberts got Oregon on the board with a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles, and the Bruins evened the score with a win at the No. 1 position. It came down to the No. 2 spot, where Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry fought their way into a tiebreaker before dropping the set, 7-6(7-4).

With momentum in hand, UCLA jumped out to first-set wins in five of the six singles matches. The Bruins swept their way to two-set victories at the No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 positions, and moved on to the tournament final.

Junior Thomas Laurent gave the Ducks a first-set win at No. 1 singles, 6-4, over the No. 1 overall player in the country, Martin Redlicki. Laurent, ranked No. 22 in the country, had been swept twice by Redlicki earlier this season. He trailed 3-2 in the second set when the Bruins clinched the match.

Stevens continued his gritty play by pushing No. 80 Evan Zhu to a first-set tiebreaker. Zhu hung on to win, 7-6, at No. 2 singles. Gentry also continued to battle after the tough loss in doubles, and trailed 6-4, 3-3 in the No. 4 singles match when it was called.

Quotable:
UO coach Nils Schyllander
"It's been a great week. It was a gritty effort against a talented and well-coached Cal team. I thought we played with great energy and showed we belong with the nation's elite. UCLA was a number too large for us today. When we lost the doubles point in an extremely closely contested match, it was an awfully large mountain to climb against — in my opinion — the top team in the country. The hat is off to Coach Martin and his boys."

"We are very confident going into NCAAs. We have played better and better as the season has progressed. We can't wait to suit up again and we are ready to go."

Up Next: The NCAA Tournament field will be announced Tuesday beginning at 5:30 p.m. PT. Oregon is looking to make its third straight appearance in the national championship event.