Feb. 15, 2006
Santa Clara, Calif. - It's good to be home. Just ask the Santa Clara men's tennis team, who scored a convincing 6-1 victory over Bay Area and West Coast Conference rival San Francisco this afternoon at the Degheri Tennis Center.
Coming off two road losses this past weekend, a home match was all that the Broncos needed to pick up their spirits, as they are undefeated this year at home with a 5-0 mark and have now won 16 straight matches stemming back to the 2005 season.
"This was an important match for us, not only for conference reasons, but also for our development as we close out a challenging first third of our season," said head coach George Husack. "We've been on the road four weekends in a row and you could see that it was having an impact on the guys."
The afternoon got off to a great start for Santa Clara, as they clinched the doubles point by virtue of victories from the bottom half of their line-up. On Court 2, Kevin McQuaid and Blane Shields got things rolling with their 8-4 victory over Falko Huettenberger and Fernando Rodriguez. Chris Iwamura and A.J. Kerin added the necessary doubles win at the No. 3 spot to clinch the point, defeating Mitch del Rosario and Andrew Hogan 8-4. At the No. 1 position, Brian Brogan and Jan Macek dropped an 8-5 decision to Matthew Berry and Korbinian Kramer.
In singles action, San Francisco evened the score after Huettenberger took out McQuaid 6-2, 6-4 out on Court 2, but Shields put his team back on top for good with his 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Rafael Corazza at the No. 6 position. Santa Clara added another point to their total after Tommy Hicks took care of Rodriguez 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot and Brogan clinched the dual match with his 7-5, 6-2 win over Kramer on Court 3. Macek and Kerin won their respective matches in three sets to account for the final margin.
"I'm very happy the way they competed. Bobby [Rasmussen] couldn't go today so Blane Shields and the others really stepped it up," commented Husack. "They earned this victory and now have some time off. We'll review how we've fared over our first twelve matches, take care of any kinks and prepare for our next string of contests in March."
Santa Clara evens its record to 6-6 on the year and returns to action on March 4, when Cal Poly visits the Degheri Tennis Center for a noon match-up.
Santa Clara 6, San Francisco 1
Doubles (Santa Clara wins the doubles point)
1. Matthew Berry/Korbinian Kramer (USF) def. Brian Brogan/Jan Macek (SCU), 8-5
2. Kevin McQuaid/Blane Shields (SCU) def. Falko Huettenberger/Fernando Rodriguez (USF), 8-4
3. Chris Iwamura/A.J. Kerin (SCU) def. Mitch del Rosario/Andrew Hogan (USF), 8-4
Singles
1. Jan Macek (SCU) def. Matthew Berry (USF), 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (5)
2. Falko Huettenberger (USF) def. Kevin McQuaid (SCU), 6-2, 6-4
3. Brian Brogan (SCU) def. Korbinian Kramer (USF), 7-5, 6-2
4. Tommy Hicks (SCU) def. Fernando Rodriguez (USF), 6-3, 6-3
5. A.J. Kerin (SCU) def. Thong Tu (USF), 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (6)
6. Blane Shields (SCU) def. Rafael Corazza (USF), 6-3, 6-3