By, Rico Chow '12

FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 50-ranked Santa Clara University men's tennis team came up short against Western Athletic Conference foe No. 51^st-ranked Fresno State, 3-4, this afternoon at Fresno, Calif.

"I was disappointed that the team came out flat today. Fresno State is too good to not play more inspired tennis," said Santa Clara men's tennis head coach Derek Mills.

The Broncos (9-5) will play three matches at home during Spring break next week: against University of Washington on Tues., March 22; UC Riverside on Thur., March 24; and Northern Arizona on Fri., March 25. The next match against Washington is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

SCU lost the doubles point in close matches. Maxime Armengaud and Nicholas Vinel fell at No. 1 doubles action against the Bulldogs' the No. 33 nationally-ranked Rikus de Villiers and Remi Boutillier doubles pair, 6-8. At No. 2 and 3 doubles positions, teammates Kyle Dandan and Tom Pham pair and Eugene Muchynski and John Lamble pair were defeated by the Bulldogs, 8-6 and 8-5, respectively.

In singles action, Armengaud swept Rikus de Villiers at the No. 2 spot, 6-1, 6-1. Eugene Muchynski, at No. 6 singles, grabbed a win against David Ayoun after a seesaw match. Although Muchynski won the first set with a clean sheet, he lost the second set without winning a game. In the third set, Muchynski bounced back with a 6-0, 0-6, 6-3 victory to give the Broncos the second victory of the day.

The highlight of the match was at the No. 5 singles action. Pham lost the first set with a 4-6 score but bounced back with a 6-3 win on the second set. Pham and his opponent Siddharth Alapati played very competitively without losing concentration until Pham topped Alapati in the third-set tie-breaker with a 13-11 score. This is Tom Pham's eighth singles victory in a row from Loyola Marymount's dual match on Feb. 5.

Despite their strong efforts, the Broncos were a match short to claim a victory with a 4-3 loss at Fresno State.

Go Broncos!

No. 50 Santa Clara 3, No. 51 Fresno State 4

#1 Singles: FS #70 Remi Boutillier def. SCU Kyle Dandan; 6-2, 6-1
#2 Singles: SCU Maxime Armengaud def. FS Rikus de Villiers; 6-1, 6-1
#3 Singles: FS Jean-Charles Diame def. SCU John Lamble; 6-3, 6-2
#4 Singles: FS Francis Alcantara def. SCU Nicolas Vinel; 6-3, 6-2
#5 Singles: SCU Tom Pham def. FS Siddharth Alapati; 4-6, 6-3, (13-11)
#6 Singles: SCU Eugene Muchynski def. FS David Ayoun; 6-0, 0-6, 6-3

#1 Doubles: FS #33 Villiers/Boutillier def. SCU Armengaud/Vinel; 8-6
#2 Doubles: FS Alcantara/Diame def. SCU Dandan/Pham; 8-6
#3 Doubles: FS Ayoun/Alapati def. SCU Muchynski/Lamble; 8-5