No. 37 Bronco Men's Tennis Picks Up Sweep; Senior Tom Pham Breaks All-Time Singles Wins Record

Photo by widgic.com
Photo by widgic.com

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The No. 37 Santa Clara Broncos men's tennis team came up with another sweep on their home courts, this time topping Sacramento State and Sonoma State. Senior Tom Pham (12-5) broke the all-time wins record by winning both his matches, giving him 75 wins during his outstanding Bronco career.

Pham's 7-5, 6-0 win over Sonoma State broke the previous record of 74 wins set by Francisco Zepponi ('02-'04), and his teammates showered the San Diego native with ice water in celebration. While Zepponi had 63 losses during his Bronco career, Pham has a mere 24, proving his effectiveness and efficiency. Pham's career awards include: All-WCC Honorable Mention Singles (3X), All-WCC Honorable Mention Doubles and First Team All-WCC Academic Team.

"I am so proud of Tom for getting this prestigious record today," said Bronco head coach Derek Mills. "To be the all-time leader in singles victories is such a great accomplishment and is something he will never forget. Tom is one of the classiest guys you will ever meet and I am so happy for him."

With the two wins, the Broncos improve to 7-3 (0-1 WCC) and have won four of their last five matches (lost WCC Opener 4-3 at No. 50 BYU). Santa Clara recorded an opening-day sweep over UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz Jan. 19, and their home record now sits at a perfect 4-0.

In the morning match against Sacramento State, Santa Clara defeated the Hornets 5-2. The Broncos top five singles players all won, starting with John Lamble's 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 1. Ilya Osintsev was a 6-3, 6-1 winner, and Matt Kecki also cruised to a straight-set victory, 6-1, 6-2.

Ashot Khacharyan won 7-5, 6-2 which upped his record to 7-1 on the season, including his current five-game winning streak. Pham triumphed 7-6, 6-1, which gave him 11 wins on the season and 74 for his career which tied him for the all-time wins record.

Against Sonoma State in the afternoon, Santa Clara made quick work of the visiting Sea Wolves and showed no signs of fatigue in their second match. Every Santa Clara player won in singles, with no Bronco surrendering more than seven games.

No. 1 Lamble (6-0, 6-2), No. 4 Khacharyan (6-0, 6-1) and No. 5 Eugene Muchysnki (6-2, 6-0) were the most dominating, however all Broncos took care of business with strong performances. The highlight of the match was Pham's record-setting victory, which was a special moment for Pham and the entire Bronco team.

Position

 Santa Clara University

 Sacramento State

 Winner

 Score

 #1 Singles

 #69 John Lamble

 Marek Marksoo

 Santa Clara University

 6-4, 6-1

 #2 Singles

 Ilya Osintsev

 Aliaksandr Malko

 Santa Clara University

 6-3, 6-1

 #3 Singles

 Matt Kecki

 Sean Kolar

 Santa Clara University

 6-1, 6-2

 #4 Singles

 Ashot Khacharyan

 Roy Brandys

 Santa Clara University

 7-5, 6-2

 #5 Singles

 Tom Pham

 Sean Kolar

 Santa Clara University

 7-6, 6-1

 #6 Singles

 Tomasz Soltyka

 Niranjan Ram

 Sacramento State

 7-6, 6-0

 #1 Doubles

 Ilya Osintsev
 Matt Kecki

 Aliaksandr Malko
 Marek Marksoo

 Sacramento State

 8-6

 #2 Doubles

 Eugene Muchynski
 John Lamble

 Sean Kolar
 Tom Miller

 Sacramento State

 9-8

 #3 Doubles

 Ashot Khacharyan
 Tom Pham

 Roy Brandys
 Niranjan Ram

 Santa Clara University

 8-3

 

 Position

 Santa Clara University

 Sonoma State University

 Winner

 Score

 #1 Singles

 #69 John Lamble

 Matt Roberts

 Santa Clara University

 6-0, 6-2

 #2 Singles

 Ilya Osintsev

 Robert Henry

 Santa Clara University

 6-3, 6-1

 #3 Singles

 Tom Pham

 Drexler Dy

 Santa Clara University

 7-5, 6-0

 #4 Singles

 Ashot Khacharyan

 David Hutton

 Santa Clara University

 6-0, 6-1

 #5 Singles

 Eugene Muchynski

 Ryan Harris

 Santa Clara University

 6-2, 6-0

 #6 Singles

 Tomasz Soltyka

 Vincent Paganetti

 Santa Clara University

 7-6, 6-1

 #1 Doubles

 Ilya Osintsev
 Matt Kecki

 David Hutton
 Seth Hein

 Santa Clara University

 8-3

 #2 Doubles

 Eugene Muchynski
 John Lamble

 Matt Roberts
 Ryan Harris

 Unfinished

 6-3

 #3 Doubles

 Ashot Khacharyan
 Tom Pham

 Jimmy Manning
 Robert Henry

 Santa Clara University

 8-1