Cougars Fall in Eugene

EUGENE, Ore. – Seniors Savanna Ly-Nguyen and Michaela Bayerlova provided the lone highlights for Washington State as the Cougars fell to No. 45 Oregon, 5-2, Friday afternoon at the UO Student Tennis Center.
 
Ly-Nguyen and Bayerlova each dropped their first sets before rallying to capture the only two points for the Cougars on the afternoon. After trailing 6-2 to Oregon's Myah Petchey, Ly-Nguyen rallied back to win the second, 6-3, forcing a third set. With the team match outcome already decided, the third set consisted of a 10-point tiebreaker, with Ly-Nguyen using some late heroics to win 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9). The win improved Ly-Nguyen's record to 18-9 on the season and was the 70th of her career.
 
Bayerlova needed three tiebreakers to secure her 13th singles victory of the season against just one loss. After falling 11-9 in the first-set tiebreaker to Sophia Luescher, Bayerlova, the nation's 91st-ranked player, rallied from 5-6 down  to win the second, 7-6 (7-5). In a 10-point breaker to decide the match, it was all Bayerlova as she captured some early mini-breaks and pulled away, winning 10-4.
 
Oregon (10-5, 2-3 Pac-12) jumped out quickly to take a 1-0 lead following doubles. The Ducks posted convincing wins on Courts 2 and 3 when Ares Teixido Garcia and Karin Young opened things up with a 6-1 win over Washington State's (6-10, 1-4) Ly-Nguyen and Elyse Tse. That was followed by Petchey and Allison Mulville's 6-2 win over the Cougar duo of Yang Lee and Fifa Kumhom at No. 2. The No. 1 match was stopped with the doubles point in hand, with WSU's Bayerlova and Maxine Murphy leading Oregon's Luescher and Uxia Martinez Moral, 3-2.
 
In singles action, the Ducks came out strong. At No. 4, Young posted a 6-1, 6-1 win over Kumhom while Teixido Garcia completed a 6-2, 6-2 win over Murphy, extending the Oregon lead to 3-0.
 
The deciding point came when Mulville completed a 6-3, 6-1 win over Stefaniia Mikhailova at No. 6. At No. 5, Martinez Moral fought off a late charge by Lee in a 6-2, 7-5 win.
 
The Cougars are next in action Friday when they head to Los Angeles to face No. 17 USC at 1:30 p.m.
 
WASHINGTON STATE TENNIS
No. 45 Oregon 5 def. Washington State 2
March 25, 2022
UO Student Tennis Center
Eugene, Ore.
 
DOUBLES
No. 1 Michaela Bayerlova/Maxine Murphy (WSU) vs. Sophie Luescher/Uxia Martinez Moral (UO) 3-2 DNF
No. 2 Allison Mulville/Myah Petchey (UO) def. Yang Lee/Fifa Kumhom (WSU) 6-2
No. 2 Ares Teixido Garcia/Karin Young (UO) def. Savanna Ly-Nguyen/Elyse Tse (WSU) 6-1
Order of Finish:  3,2
 
SINGLES
No. 1 #91 Michaela Bayerlova (WSU) def. Sophia Luescher (UO) 6-7 (9), 7-6 (5), 1-0 (10-4)
No. 2 Savanna Ly-Nguyen (WSU) def. Myah Petchey (UO) 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9)
No. 3 Ares Teixido Garcia (UO) def. Maxine Murphy (WSU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Karin Young (UO) def. Fifa Kumhom (WSU) 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 Uxia Martinez Moral (UO) def. Yang Lee (WSU) 6-2, 7-5
No. 6 Allison Mulville (UO) def. Stefaniia Mikhailova (WSU) 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: 4,3,6,5,2,1