A road trip to face a nationally ranked program resulted in a tough weekend for the Idaho women’s tennis program, as the team fell to Oregon 6-1 on Saturday.
Senior Rita Bermudez collected Idaho’s lone point in Eugene against the No. 51 ranked team in the country.
“Oregon is a very strong team,” Idaho head coach Mariana Cobra said. “They are very tough and consistent. They showed why they are a top-ranked team in the nation.”
The Vandals initially entered the matchup shorthanded. Freshman Marianna Petrie, who plays as the team’s No. 1, was unable to face Oregon Saturday.
As a result, everyone on the team was forced to move up a spot in the Vandal lineup.
The Ducks began play by taking two doubles matches against the Vandals.
The Idaho duo of freshman Claire Yang and senior Belen Barcenilla fell to the Oregon pair of Nia Rose and Alyssa Tobita 6-0 to begin doubles play. Oregon claimed the corresponding point when the Vandals lost on the second doubles court later in the morning.
“It was a good day for our team,” Oregon head coach Alison Silverio said. “The upperclassmen Nia, Alyssa and Marlou stepped up, got it done and put that point on the board for us.”
Following the doubles results, Idaho struggled to find success against the strength of the Oregon lineup.
The Vandals were defeated in five of the following six single matches, claiming just one victory on the day.
Bermudez earned the Vandals’s only point after defeating Oregon’s Micheline Aubuchon 6-3, 2-6, 10-2.
“Idaho is a really tough team,” Silverio said. “They’re talented with great players that compete really hard.”
Silverio said that Idaho’s success on the court proves how difficult of an opponent that the Vandals can be.
“They’re always winning their conference and top in their conference,” Silverio said. “So for this to be our first home match and us be able to get it going right away was exciting to see”
Cobra said she thought the Vandals played well given the quality of the team’s opponent.
“I thought we did a good job of handling the challenge,” Cobra said. “We fought hard today.”
The Vandals will return to the court 3 p.m. Thursday against Seattle University in Pullman.
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom