Men's Tennis Defeats San Francisco 6-1

March 10, 2004

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's tennis team avenged a loss to Bay Area rival San Francisco earlier this season with a 6-1 victory over the Dons this evening at the Degheri Tennis Center. The Broncos' record improves to 6-8 overall, 3-1 in the West Coast Conference, while the Dons fall to 6-6, 3-2.

The Broncos top two all-time singles winners: Scott Watters and Erich Chen.

Not only did senior Erich Chen's victory on court three clinch today's victory, it also marked the 67th of his career, placing him in sole possession of the Bronco program all-time mark. He surpassed Scott Watters' 66 wins, set from 1997-2000. Watters was on hand today for Chen's milestone victory.

Broncos Taylor Bedilion and Kevin McQuaid paired up for the first time in dual action and won their court three doubles contest 8-3 over Dons Andrew Hogan and Timo Kienle. San Francisco took the other two matches to secure the first point of the afternoon. Chen and Gernot Fischer rallied from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 lead in their doubles contest on court one, but fell to Axel Elvik and Mason Fuller 9-7 in the deciding match.

The Broncos swept singles action to secure the team victory, including Fischer's 6-0, 6-1 win over Pablo Pires de Almeida, his first victory since securing a No. 81 national ranking. Freshman Bobby Rasmussen improved to 4-0 on the dual season with his 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win on court six over USF's Rafael Corazza.

The Broncos will break for winter quarter finals and will return on Sunday, March 21, hosting U.S. Air Force at 11 a.m. at the Degheri Tennis Center. Santa Clara will host its annual Pro-Am Invitational on Saturday, March 20, at 2 p.m. Details on that event can be found by clicking here.

Santa Clara def. San Francisco 6-1

Doubles
1. Elvik/Fuller (USF) def. Fischer/Chen (SCU) 9-7
2. Van Rillas/Pires de Almeida (USF) def. Eric Kochanski / Ben Hidalgo (SCU) 8-6
3. Bedilion/McQuaid (SCU) def. Andrew Hogan/Kienle (USF) 8-3

Singles
1. No. 81 Gernot Fischer (SCU) def. Pablo Pires de Almeida (USF) 6-0, 6-1
2. Taylor Bedilion (SCU) def. Axel Elvik (USF) 6-2, 6-0
3. Erich Chen (SCU) def. Romain Van Rillas (USF)* 6-3, 6-4
4. Francisco Zepponi (SCU) def. Mason Fuller (USF) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
5. Kevin McQuaid (SCU) def. Timo Kienle (USF) 7-5, 6-0
6. Bobby Rasmussen (SCU) def. Rafael Corazza (USF) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

* Clinched Team Victory