EUGENE, Ore. – Nia Rose rallied from a set down for the three-set victory and earned the clinching point as No. 61 Oregon defeated Washington State, 4-3, in a Pac-12 Conference tennis match Sunday afternoon at the Student Tennis Center.
With the loss the Cougars fall to 10-4 on the season, 0-2 in Pac-12 play. Oregon improved to 6-3, 1-0 in conference action.
With the teams trading singles victories, it came down to the top two spots for the victory. Oregon led 3-2 but the Cougars had won the first set at both No. 1 and No. 2 singles. At No. 1 WSU's Elizaveta Luzina captured the first set 6-4 but could not close out Rose as the Oregon freshman rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win, giving the Ducks an insurmountable 4-2 lead. With the match already decided, WSU's Maria Biryukova, who won the first set, rallied from 5-3 down in the third to post a 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 win over Alyssa Tobita at No. 2.
The Cougars did receive strong singles wins from Victoria Matejevic at No. 5, who defeated Lina Akesson, 6-0, 6-0, while Nastia Vasyukhina cruised past Paloma Gomez 6-4, 6-1 at No. 6 to account for the Cougar victories on the day.
Oregon's other singles wins came when Nicole Long defeated Lize Leenknecht, 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 and Marlou Kluiving won two close sets, 6-4, 6-4, over Donika Bashota at No. 4.
In doubles play Oregon captured wins at the top two spots to secure the opening point, which proved to be crucial. At No. 3 the Cougars wasted no time earning the victory as Bashota and Vasyukhina posted an 8-0 victory over Akesson and Gomez. At No. 1 the Duck duo of Rose and Tobita rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Elizaveta Luzina and Lize Leenknecht, 8-4, evening the match. Oregon then clinched the point at No. 2 when Long and Kluiving defeated Biryukova and Matejevic, 8-4.
The Cougars are next in action Friday when they host No. 12 UCLA. Match time is set for 1:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON STATE TENNIS
No. 61 Oregon 4 def. Washington State 3
Student Tennis Center
Eugene, Ore.
March 8. 2015
DOUBLES
No. 1 Luzina/Leenknecht (WSU) vs. Rose/Tobita (UO) def. Leenknecht/Luzina (WSU) 8-4
No. 2 Long/Kluiving (UO) def. Biryukova/Matejevic (WSU) 8-4
No. 3 Bashota/Vasyukhina (WSU) def. Akesson/Gomez (UO) 8-0
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
SINGLES
No. 1 Nia Rose (UO) def. Elizaveta Luzina (WSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 Maria Biryukova (WSU) def. Alyssa Tobita (UO) 6-3, 6-7, 7-5
No. 3 Nicole Long (UO) def. Lize Leenknecht (WSU) 6-0, 6-1
No. 4 Marlou Kluiving (UO) def. Donika Bashota (WSU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 Victoria Matejevic (WSU) def. Lina Akesson (UO) 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 Nastia Vasyukhina (WSU) def. Paloma Gomez (UO) 6-4, 6-1
Order of Finish: 5,3,6,4,1,2
--wsucougars.com--