SAN DIEGO – The Utah women's tennis team fell to the sixth-seeded Oregon Ducks in the first round of the Pac-12 Championships Friday morning at the Barnes Tennis Center.
"We are learning some incredibly difficult lessons," said head coach
Ric Mortera. "Although it's tough, it is necessary for us in order to get to where we want to be as a program. Yes, we faced a lot of adversity this season but we are going to be better for it and it's going to make the journey to where we want to be that much sweeter. We are looking forward to a productive off season and coming back ready to go next season."
Utah quickly fell into a deficit in doubles play as Oregon took 6-1 wins on courts two and three and were also leading on court one. With hopes of making a splash at the conference tournament, Utah would need to turn the tides in singles play.
The Ducks wouldn't let the Utes back in the match after taking five of the six first sets.
Madeline Lamoreaux fell behind in her first set 0-3, rallied to tie it at 3-all, but ultimately fell behind again to drop the set 6-4.
Emily Dush on court two traded sets until the midway point when Oregon's Kahfiani pulled away for a 6-3 win.
Lindsay Hung on the next court also played a tight first set, but like Lamoreaux, dropped her set 6-4 after she could not make a final push.
The lone Ute to win her first set was
Anastasia Goncharova, who jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but once it was tied 2-2, traded sets back and forth until she found herself in a tiebreaker. Goncharova would then take the tiebreaker and set 7-6, but her match went unfinished as Oregon stole enough wins to clinch the match.
Madison Tattini and
Olivia Mikkelson fell on courts five and six, while the final point came from court one with Lamoreaux dropping her second set 6-3. Dush had flew through her second set 6-1 to push it to a third set, while Hung had her second set within reach midway.
Utah 0, #47 Oregon 4
Singles
1. Janice Tjen (UO) def.
Madeline Lamoreaux (UU), 6-4, 6-3
2.Â
Emily Dush (UU) vs. Rifanty Kahfiani (UO), 3-6, 6-1, unf.
3.
Lindsay Hung (UU) vs. Uxia Martinez Moral (UO), 4-6, 2-3, unf.
4.
Anastasia Goncharova (UU) vs. Ares Teixido Garcia (UO), 7-6, 0-0, unf.
5. Julia Eshet (UO) def.
Madison Tattini (UU), 6-1, 6-4
6. Myah Petchey (UO) def.
Olivia Mikkelson (UU), 6-1, 6-1
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Doubles
1. Kahfiani/Tjen (UO) vs. Dush/Goncharova (UU), 5-2, unf.
2. Martinez Moral/Petchey (UO) def. A. Lamoreaux/M. Lamoreaux (UU), 6-1
3. Eshet/Mulville (UO) def. Hung/Tattini (UU), 6-1
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