April 15, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - In a match that saw everything, the No. 68 Santa Clara Broncos capped off an incredible regular season with a win over Sacramento State at the Degheri Tennis Center on Sunday. The Broncos, playing their second match of the day, fell behind 2-1 before rallying for a 4-3 win over the Hornets on Senior Day. Santa Clara improved to 19-6 on the season to put the team in second all-time in wins in school history.
Seniors Jan Macek and Bobby Rasmussen were honored before the match for their outstanding careers at SCU. Coming into Sunday, Macek and Rasmussen had combined for 103 singles wins and 103 doubles wins.
In the first surprise of the day, Rasmussen, who broke his hand just two weeks ago, returned to partner with Macek at No. 1 doubles. The pair proved that they still possessed the magic, pulling out an 8-6 win over Gabriel Loredo and Anton Stryhas to clinch the doubles point. The win was the 17th of the year for the duo, tying them for fourth all-time in single season doubles wins.
 Macek combined with fellow senior Bobby Rasmussen for a big doubles win.  |
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Brian Brogan and Jay Wong lost the first doubles match of the day at No. 3 against Warwick Foy and Ramon Perez. However, Robert Gallman and Blane Shields came back for an 8-5 win at No. 2 to set up Macek and Rasmussen's dramatic victory.
Despite entering singles with the momentum, the Broncos stumbled out of the gate with Macek and Brogan both losing straight set matches at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. Macek fell 6-2, 6-3 to Xavier Barajas-Smith and Brogan lost to Stryhas 6-1, 6-1.
Wong got the comeback started with a historic victory at No. 3 singles over Loredo, whom he had also beaten the ITA Regionals in the fall. The San Jose native won 6-2, 6-2 for his 30th victory of the year, tying him with Francisco Zepponi for the most singles wins in one season in Santa Clara history.
With the match tied at two apiece, Shields won his second match of the day at No. 5, easing past Foy 6-4, 6-3.
Gallman used Shields win as inspiration as he came back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set to pull out a clutch 6-3, 7-5 win that clinched the match victory for the Broncos.
The final match of the day was the most closely contested as Kevin McQuaid, playing his first singles match of the dual season, went to three sets with Tim Lantin at No. 6. Just a few weeks after knee surgery, McQuaid pushed Lantin to a third-set tiebreaker before falling 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). He came back from a 5-3 deficit in the third set to force the tiebreaker.
With 19 wins, the Broncos need one more win to tie the all-time school record. SCU begins play at the West Coast Conference Championships on Friday, April 20 in San Diego.
No. 68 Santa Clara def. Sacramento State 4-3
Doubles: (Order of finish 3, 2, 1)
1. SCU Jan Macek/Bobby Rasmussen def. SAC Gabriel Loredo/Anton Stryhas 8-6
2. SCU Robert Gallman/Blane Shields def. SAC Xavier Barajas-Smith/Hague Van Dillen 8-5
3. SAC Warwick Foy/Ramon Perez def. SCU Brian Brogan/Jay Wong 8-4
Singles: (Order of finish 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 6)
1. SAC Xavier Barajas-Smith def. SCU Jan Macek 6-2, 6-3
2. SAC Anton Stryhas def. SCU Brian Brogan 6-1, 6-1
3. SCU Jay Wong def. SAC Gabriel Loredo 6-2, 6-2
4. SCU Robert Gallman def. SAC Ramon Perez 6-3, 7-5
5. SCU Blane Shields def. SAC Warwick Foy 6-4, 6-3
6. SAC Tim Lantin def. SCU Kevin McQuaid 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
