University of Memphis Athletics
Photo by: Thomas Campbell
Men’s Tennis Falls to No. 21 Oregon, 4-2
May 12, 2017 | Men's Tennis
Tigers' season comes to end in NCAA First Round.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – The University of Memphis men's tennis team (15-9) saw its 2017 season come to an end with a 4-2 loss to No. 24 ranked Oregon (19-6), Friday, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The doubles point set the tone for the match. Memphis took an early lead with a win at three doubles, but dropped matches at one (6-3) and two (6-4) to trail 1-0 in the match.
"It was a great college tennis match," Head Coach Paul Goebel said. "It's what you'd expect when you have the two and three seeds face off in the NCAA tournament. You have to give a lot of credit to Oregon. We played an average doubles point and they came out very well and got the doubles point. But then our guys responded and came out strong on most of the singles courts. We did a good job of turning it around and making it a match."
After the doubles point, Memphis had made a change in their singles lineup, taking out Felix Rauch, who had missed practice earlier in the week due to illness, and inserting freshman Matt Story. That gave Memphis two first-time players in the NCAA tournament in the lineup (Story and Jan Pallares), but it didn't seem to slow them down, as the Tigers then got out to a quick start in singles play, winning all but two first sets.
Story was actually the first point on the board for Memphis, closing it out in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 to knot the match at 1-all. But Oregon quickly answered with a three-set win at five over Pallares, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 and used a 7-5, 6-4 win from #27 ranked Thomas Laurent at one to pull ahead 3-1.
Junior captain Kai Lemke tried to inspire a Memphis comeback, grabbing a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 win at four to pull to 3-2 down. At that time, teammates Andrew Watson and Chris Patzanovsky were tied at 3-all in their respective third sets at two and four singles.
Patzanovsky battled back to tie it up at 5-all in his third set, but Watson could not fight off Simon Stevens, falling 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the match at two, which sealed the Ducks' victory.
"It was a good season for us," Goebel said. "It was one of those where a few points here or there and things could have gone differently for us and maybe it'd be a memorable season. There's a lot of positives to take from it. All teams have to battle through adversity. We had to do that for sure this year with a number of injuries. I was proud of the guys and it's always fun to compete in the NCAA Tournament. That's the way it goes. It's gonna come down to a few points and that's what happened today."
#24 Oregon 4, #34 Memphis 2
Singles
No. 1 -- #27 Thomas Laurent def. #82 Ryan Peniston (Memphis), 7-5, 6-4
No. 2 – Simon Stevens def. #98 Andrew Watson (Memphis), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 – Kai Lemke (Memphis) def. Akihiro Tanaka, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5
No. 4 – Jayson Amos vs. Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis), 6-3, 3-6, 5-5, uf
No. 5 – Cormac Clissold def. Jan Pallares (Memphis), 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 – Matt Story (Memphis) def. Ethan Young-Smith, 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 5, 1, 3, 2
Doubles
No. 1 – Amos/Armando Soermarno def. #85 Lemke/Watson (Memphis), 6-3
No. 2 – Lauren/Clissold def. Felix Rauch/Peniston (Memphis), 6-4
No. 3 – Pallares/Story (Memphis) def. Stevens/Tanaka, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
The doubles point set the tone for the match. Memphis took an early lead with a win at three doubles, but dropped matches at one (6-3) and two (6-4) to trail 1-0 in the match.
"It was a great college tennis match," Head Coach Paul Goebel said. "It's what you'd expect when you have the two and three seeds face off in the NCAA tournament. You have to give a lot of credit to Oregon. We played an average doubles point and they came out very well and got the doubles point. But then our guys responded and came out strong on most of the singles courts. We did a good job of turning it around and making it a match."
After the doubles point, Memphis had made a change in their singles lineup, taking out Felix Rauch, who had missed practice earlier in the week due to illness, and inserting freshman Matt Story. That gave Memphis two first-time players in the NCAA tournament in the lineup (Story and Jan Pallares), but it didn't seem to slow them down, as the Tigers then got out to a quick start in singles play, winning all but two first sets.
Story was actually the first point on the board for Memphis, closing it out in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 to knot the match at 1-all. But Oregon quickly answered with a three-set win at five over Pallares, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 and used a 7-5, 6-4 win from #27 ranked Thomas Laurent at one to pull ahead 3-1.
Junior captain Kai Lemke tried to inspire a Memphis comeback, grabbing a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 win at four to pull to 3-2 down. At that time, teammates Andrew Watson and Chris Patzanovsky were tied at 3-all in their respective third sets at two and four singles.
Patzanovsky battled back to tie it up at 5-all in his third set, but Watson could not fight off Simon Stevens, falling 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the match at two, which sealed the Ducks' victory.
"It was a good season for us," Goebel said. "It was one of those where a few points here or there and things could have gone differently for us and maybe it'd be a memorable season. There's a lot of positives to take from it. All teams have to battle through adversity. We had to do that for sure this year with a number of injuries. I was proud of the guys and it's always fun to compete in the NCAA Tournament. That's the way it goes. It's gonna come down to a few points and that's what happened today."
#24 Oregon 4, #34 Memphis 2
Singles
No. 1 -- #27 Thomas Laurent def. #82 Ryan Peniston (Memphis), 7-5, 6-4
No. 2 – Simon Stevens def. #98 Andrew Watson (Memphis), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 – Kai Lemke (Memphis) def. Akihiro Tanaka, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5
No. 4 – Jayson Amos vs. Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis), 6-3, 3-6, 5-5, uf
No. 5 – Cormac Clissold def. Jan Pallares (Memphis), 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 – Matt Story (Memphis) def. Ethan Young-Smith, 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 5, 1, 3, 2
Doubles
No. 1 – Amos/Armando Soermarno def. #85 Lemke/Watson (Memphis), 6-3
No. 2 – Lauren/Clissold def. Felix Rauch/Peniston (Memphis), 6-4
No. 3 – Pallares/Story (Memphis) def. Stevens/Tanaka, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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