EUGENE, Ore. – A late rally by the Washington State tennis team came up short as the No. 69 Cougars fell to No. 36 Oregon, 5-2, Friday at the Student Tennis Center.

Doubles play began the afternoon with Oregon (9-2, 1-0) capturing two of the three matches for the opening point. At No. 2, the Oregon duo of Nia Rose and Alyssa Tobita struck first, with a 6-2 win over Donika Bashota and Lize Leenknecht. At No. 3, the WSU (13-4, 0-3) freshmen duo of Barbora Michalkova and Aneta Micksovska rode an early break of serve to a 6-3 win over Chrisi Woodson and Daniela Nasser. At No. 1, the Ducks' Kennan Johnson and Shweta Sangwan, ranked No. 33 nationally, led most of the way until WSU's Maria Biryukova and Trang Huynh forced a tiebreaker. The Cougar duo could not close out the match as Oregon won 7-6 (7-4) to lead 1-0 heading into singles play.

In singles play, Oregon quickly pushed the lead to 2-0 as Sangwan defeated Huynh at No. 4, 6-0, 6-1. The lead moved to 3-0 as Tobita won a close first set before closing out Michalkova 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3.

The Cougars found the scoreboard as Miksovska posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over Woodson at No. 5, cutting the Duck lead to 3-1. Biryukova jumped out quick in her match against Rose at No. 2. The Cougar senior won the first eight games as Rose rallied late, forcing a second-set tiebreaker before Biryukova closed out the 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) victory, bringing WSU within one at 3-2.

Oregon clinched at the match at No. 1 when Johnson rallied from a set down to defeat Bashota, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 while Nasser closed things out with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win over Leenknecht at No. 6.

The Cougars continue its two-match swing through Oregon when it faces the University of Portland, Sunday, at 11 a.m.

WSU WOMEN'S TENNIS

No. 36 Oregon 5 def. No. 69 Washington State 2

March 11, 2016

Eugene, Ore.

DOUBLES

No. 1 No. 33 Kennan Johnson/Shweta Sangwan (UO) def. Maria Biryukova/Trang Huynh (WSU) 7-6 (4)

No. 2 Nia Rose/Alyssa Tobita (UO) def. Donika Bashota/Lize Leenknecht (WSU) 6-2

No. 3 Barbora Michalkova/Aneta Miksovska (WSU) def. Christi Woodson/Daniela Nasser (UO) 603

Order of Finish: 2,3,1

SINGLES

No. 1 Keenan Johnson (UO) def. Donika Bashota (WSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1

No. 2 Marie Biryukova (WSU) def. Nia Rose (UO) 6-0, 7-6 (5)

No. 3 Alyssa Tobita (UO) def. Barbora Michalkova (WSU) 6-4, 6-2

No. 4 Shweta Sangwan (UO) def. Trang Huynh (WSU) 6-0, 6-1

No. 5 Aneta Miksovska (WSU) def. Christi Woodson (UO), 6-1, 6-2

No. 6 Daniela Nasser (UO) def. Lize Leenknecht (WSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3

Order of Finish: 4,3,5,2,1,6