Ducks Head Back To Texas For NCAA Regional

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon men's tennis team returns to Texas to open its third straight NCAA Tournament regional Saturday. The Ducks will square off against Ivy League champions Dartmouth in their opening round match at 8 a.m. PT.

INTERVIEWS
Head Coach Nils Schyllander

Associate Head Coach Jonas Piibor

Senior Cormac Clissold

WEEKLY NOTES
THE ROAD TO THE TOURNAMENT
The Ducks closed out the regular season on a tear, going 4-2 in the final stretch. In that span, UO defeated three ranked opponents to improve to 4-4 in conference play and earn the No. 4 overall seed in the Pac-12 Tournament.

In their opening round match of the conference tournament, the Ducks pulled off their second straight win over Cal to secure a semifinal berth. The win marked the program's first two victories over the Golden Bears. UO's run came to an end against No. 2 UCLA in the semifinals, falling to the eventual tournament champions 4-0.

CALIFORNIA LOVE
Oregon finally managed to check off a long-awaited item on its to-do list, defeat California. And the Ducks did it not once, but twice in back-to-back matches just four days apart. Before UO's regular season finale at Cal, the Ducks were 0-35 all-time against the Golden Bears.

Both of the wins over Cal came down to the wire with the match decided by the final points. Despite similar 4-2 and 4-3 results, each match was uniquely nerve-racking.

In the first meeting, UO fell behind early after losing the doubles point and the opening singles match. Simon Stevens got the Ducks on the board with a win over J.T. Nishimura at the No. 2 spot. Ty Gentry and Cormac Clissold kept the momentum rolling with back-to-back wins at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, respectively, to put UO in front 3-2. From there, Thomas Laurent closed it out with a 7-6(2), 7-5 victory over Billy Griffith at the No. 1 spot.

Laurent was the hero once again in the second match, clinching an even closer affair between the two squads in the Pac-12 quarterfinals. The Ducks learned from their mistakes, opening the match by clinching the doubles point. Both teams then proceeded to trade points in singles play as four of the six singles matches went into a third set. After Cal's Paul Barretto tied the match 3-3, following a three set win over Gentry at the No. 4 spot, the match decision came down to Laurent. Squaring off with Griffith once again at the No. 1 spot, the two battled back and forth, with Griffith winning a second-set tiebreaker to send the match into a third set. Laurent went on to win the match, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, to clinch the victory for UO.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Ducks climbed two spots in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings, heading into the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 33.

After dropping their third straight match, Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent fell to No. 53 in the doubles rankings. UO's new career doubles team wins record holders, the duo is 23-9 overall and 15-7 in dual play.

In the singles rankings, Laurent held firm at No. 22. He is currently 17-4 this spring season, having won his last four singles matches, and eight of the past nine.

THRIVING UNDER PRESSURE
The Ducks have found themselves in multiple down-to-the-wire thrillers this season. The most recent 4-3 win against Cal marked the fifth time this season a match has come down to the final point. The Ducks are 3-2 in those matches, with each match decision coming down to a third set with the match tied 3-3. Thomas Laurent has clinched two of those victories, while freshman Riki Oshima secured the other win for UO recording a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory at Washington.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
No. 27 Dartmouth returns to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years after going 20-5 in the regular season with a 6-1 conference record. The Big Green earned the Ivy League's automatic tournament bid after edging out Columbia, who won a share of the conference title, based on head-to-head results. Dartmouth is led by sophomore Charlie Broom, who went 13-6 from the No. 1 spot this season and is currently ranked 119th. Broom is also ranked 71st in doubles with fellow sophomore David Horneffer, with the duo sporting a 13-5 record from the No. 1 position.

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, along with sophomore Ty Gentry, to record more than 20 wins in both singles and doubles play. He has defeated four ranked opponents over the last six matches. So far this season, he has a tremendous 11-5 record against ranked foes, recording five ranked wins in his last seven matches, including three straight. Only a junior, Laurent is already sixth on the UO all-time singles wins list with a 74-19 career record. His astonishing .796 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.

Laurent added to his legacy by being selected to play in the NCAA Championship Singles Tournament later this month. This will be the second straight appearance for Laurent. He is only the third Duck in program history to receive back-to-back tournament bids.

WHAT'S A SOPHOMORE SLUMP?
Sophomore Ty Gentry has come alive during his second year at Oregon. After finishing his freshman year 11-10 overall, Gentry has flipped a switch going 24-5 in singles play this season.

One of two Ducks with 20 or more wins, he opened the spring season with an 11-match winning streak dating back to the fall. Gentry has locked down the No. 5 spot for UO, going 10-2 at that position. He also recorded a victory in his first career ranked matchup, defeating No. 90 Sameer Kumar of Stanford, 6-3, 6-3. With his 24 wins this season, the Olympia, Wash., native is currently tied for fourth on the UO single-season wins list.

Gentry has also paired with senior Simon Stevens for a 23-9 doubles record. After going 3-3 when paired together last season, the duo is now tied for 11th on the UO career doubles pair wins list. They are tied with Peter Bartlett and Sean Campbell who sport the same 26-12 record. If the duo can win at least one match in the NCAA Tournament, they will move into the top 10 all-time.

REUNITED ONCE MORE
The Doubles pair of sophomore Armando Soemarno and freshman Charles Roberts took the court once again in UO's last three matches, after a nearly month-long absence. After dropping their first match against their Cal counterparts, the pair bounced back to win their last two matches, including Oregon's only victory against UCLA in the Pac-12 semifinals.

The Ducks are currently 11-6 when paired together, beginning their partnership this spring after Roberts joined the squad. The two started off the year 8-2 while playing the majority of their matches at the No. 1 position. Currently, they are 7-4 from the top spot, with duplicate 2-1 records at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.

LOOKING AHEAD
It will be no easy task for the Ducks to make it out of their regional. If UO can defeat Dartmouth, they will most likely face regional hosts TCU in the next round. The Horned Frogs are currently ranked 8th in the NCAA with an 18-4 overall record while going undefeated in Big 12 play.