March 24, 2013
EUGENE, Ore. -
Arizona (8-7, 0-3) dropped its match, 5-2, against No. 64 Oregon (11-4, 1-3) on Sunday afternoon at the Oregon Student Tennis Center.
It was the Wildcats first loss to the Ducks since 2009.“We had a great start to the match in the doubles,” Arizona head coach Vicky Maes said. “We couldn't close it in singles though.”
Arizona began the day by winning the doubles round to go up 1-0 over the Ducks.
For the first time this season, UA juniors Kim Stubbe (Mol, Belgium) and Akilah James (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paired up at the No. 2 doubles spot. The pair gave Arizona the early advantage to take the doubles point by defeating Metzger and Neubert, 8-3.
Arizona junior Lacey Smyth (Oceanside, Calif.) and freshman Shayne Austin (Oak Parks, Calif.) clinched the doubles point by defeating Skowronski and Long, 8-4, at the No. 1 spot.
Oregon tied the match at one apiece by winning the singles match at the No. 2.
Arizona responded and went ahead 2-1 after James swept Pascale Neubert, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 4 singles spot.
Despite the lead, Arizona went on to drop the next four singles matches at the No. 1, 3, 5 and 6 spots to pick-up its third conference loss of the season.
“We have the talent, we have the opportunities,” Maes said. “But we need to finish a match. Losing is extremely hard on all of us, but every experience makes us stronger.”
Next: The Wildcats will head to Pullman, Wash., to take on Washington State at 11. a.m. PT on Friday, March 29 and the Washington Huskies on Saturday at 12 p.m. in Seattle, Wash.
For immediate results and continued coverage of Arizona Women's Tennis, visit ArizonaWildcats.com, or visit the Arizona Women's Tennis Facebook page, or follow @ArizonaWTennis on Twitter.
Oregon 4 Arizona 2
Doubles
No. 1 Austin/Smyth (UA) def. Skowronski/Long (UO), 8-4
No. 2 Stubbe/James (UA) def. Metzger/Neubert (UO), 8-3
No. 3 Hughes/Hager (UO) def. Mc Rann/Oldham, 8-2
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
No. 1 Nicole Long def. No. 48 Lacey Smyth, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
No. 2 Patricia Skowronski (UO) def. Kim Stubbe (UA), 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 Julia Metzger (UO) def. Laura Oldham (UA), 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 Akilah James (UA) def. Pascale Neubert (UO), 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 Lana Buttner (UO) def. Susan Mc Rann (UA), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(7-4)
No. 6 Rabea Stueckemann (UO) def. Inge Hendrikx 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3, 1, 6*, 5
*Indicates when match was finished.
