Ducks Roll Again, Sweep Opening Weekend

Saturday, January 25

Eugene, OR

12:00 PM

University of Oregon

Portland State

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

01/25/20 | Women's Tennis

Box Score - Oregon 6, Portland State 1

By: Derren Iha

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon overcame a bit of a slow start to pick up the doubles point and take command of the match through singles in another dominant 6-1 win on opening weekend, this time over Portland State Saturday at the Student Tennis Center.

How it Happened: After falling behind early in all three doubles matches, the Ducks battled back and took control at the No. 1 and 2 spots to take the doubles point. Uxia Martinez Moral and Paiton Wagner fell behind 2-0 out of the gates, but took six straight games for a 6-2 win. Rifanty Kahfiani and Lillian Mould fell a 2-1 hole early on, but won five of the final six games for a 6-3 victory to put up the first Oregon point.

The Ducks stayed in command throughout singles play, claiming dominating wins in three matches to clinch the victory. Julia Eshet rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 win at the No. 4 spot and Myah Petchey followed with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 5 to make it a 3-0 Oregon lead. Kahfiani also made quick work in her match with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 1 for the clincher. Martinez Moral added the fifth point of the match with a 6-3, 6-1 win at the No. 3 spot.

Mould went back-and-forth the entire first set in her match with the Vikings' Lotti Meszaros before ultimately falling 7-6 (4). She battled back though with a dominant 6-1 second set to force a third-set tiebreaker. The freshman grinded out a 10-8 win in the tiebreaker, coming back from an 8-5 deficit to put the bow on top of the Ducks' win.

Oregon 6, Portland State 1
Doubles
1. Rifanty Kahfiani/Lillian Mould def. Nina Nikitovic/Alli Valk, 6-3
2. Uxia Martinez Moral/Paiton Wagner def. Lotti Meszaros/Emily Rees, 6-2
3. Jacinta Milenkoski/Eszter Zador def. Julia Eshet/Myah Petchey, 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles
1. Rifanty Kahfiani def. Jacinta Milenkoski, 6-1, 6-1
2. Lillian Mould def. Lotti Meszaros, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 1-0 (8)
3. Uxia Martinez Moral def. Eszter Zador, 6-3, 6-1
4. Julia Eshet def. Alli Valk, 6-0, 6-0
5. Myah Petchey def. Emily Rees, 6-1, 6-0
6. Gerda Upeniece def. Taryn Fujimori, 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1*, 3, 6, 2
*clincher

Quotable: Head coach Courtney Nagle
On the win…
"We actually had a slow start in doubles, but I really liked how we progressed throughout the match. It was great for both seniors to ignite us in singles, so it's always great to have our leaders stepping up."

On Mould's win…
"That was a great way to finish the match. She obviously had a tough first set, and when you lose a tough first set, it can go one of two ways and she went towards the way of motivation and continued to get stronger through that second set."

Up Next: The Ducks will head to Los Angeles next weekend for a pair of matches, starting with Loyola Marymount on Friday at 1 p.m.