Jan. 17, 2004
The Santa Clara University men's tennis team got its 2004 season off to a good start with a narrow 4-3 victory over UC Santa Cruz Saturday morning at the SCU Tennis Center.
Junior Fanciso Zepponi sealed the win for Santa Clara with his exciting straight-set victory over Andrew Cohen, winning by the narrow margin of 6-4 and 7-6 (3). With the win, Zepponi his claimed his 48th career singles victory at SCU.
"This morning was very beneficial for us in that it is always good to have a very competitive match so early in the season," said head coach George Husack. "Getting the win is important but was also learned that we have some areas that need improvement. The guys need to really learn how to focus in on exposing their opponent's weaknesses and much less on how they are doing individually in the match."
The Broncos (1-0) starting things off by sweeping the double matches to take a 1-0 lead entering the singles matches. Erich Chen and Kevin McQuaid were impressive in their doubles performance, taking the match by a 8-3 score of Brian Casey and Bryce Parmelly. Gernot Fischer and Eric Kochanski, currently ranked No. 49 by the USTA, won their doubles match by a 9-7 score while Taylor Badilion and Ben Hidalgo captured their match by a 9-7 count as well.
Santa Clara's top player, Gernot Fischer, cruised in his singles match, defeating Matt Brunner in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-2. Taylor Bedilion was also impressive in his straight-set win, defeating Brian Casey 6-3 and 6-0.
UCSC (0-1), the four-time NCAA Division III National Champions, proved tough in the singles matches, taking three of the six matches. Matt Seeberger rallied from a 6-4 first set loss to win the next two by scores of 6-1 and 6-4 to take home a victory over SCU's Erich Chen. Kevin Casey and Shane Templeman each recorded three set victories over Eric Kochanski and Kevin McQuaid respectively.
Santa Clara continues its 2004 season with a 2:30 p.m. match against UC Davis later on this afternoon. Following the match against Davis, the Broncos travel to the Pacific Northwest for a pair of matches at Pac-10 foes Washington and Oregon on January 23 and 25, respectively.
Santa Clara 4, UC Santa Cruz 3
SINGLES1. Gernot Fischer (SCU) def. Matt Brunner (UCSC) - 6-3, 6-2
2. Matt Seeberger (UCSC) def. Erich Chen (SCU) - 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. Kevin Casey (UCSC) def. Eric Kochanski (SCU) - 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
4. Taylor Bedilion (SCU) def. Brian Casey (UCSC) - 6-3, 6-0
5. Francisco Zepponi (SCU) def. Andrew Cohen (UCSC) - 6-4, 7-6 (3)
6. Shane Templeman (UCSC) def. Kevin McQuaid (SCU) - 0-6, 7-5, 6-1
DOUBLES
1. Fischer/Kochanski (SCU) def. Brunner/ Kellen Ali-Christe (UCSC) - 9-7
2. Chen/McQuaid (SCU) def. Brian Casey/Parmelly (UCSC) - 8-3
3. Bedilion/Hidalgo (SCU) def. Seeberger/Templeman (UCSC) - 9-7