No. 67 Bronco Men's Tennis Tops LMU in Thrilling, Come-From-Behind Win

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The No. 67 Bronco men's tennis team picked up their first WCC win of the season on Friday, defeating the visiting LMU Lions for their second straight victory. Santa Clara fell behind 3-1 in the match before mounting a furious comeback to secure the 4-3 win.

The Broncos will face No. 6 Pepperdine tomorrow, Mar. 30 at 10 am on the Mission Campus. The match time was moved up one hour due to inclement weather.

Santa Clara is 13-6 overall, including 10-2 on its home courts. The squad has a 1-3 mark on the road and is 2-1 in neutral contests. Santa Clara recorded its first WCC win, improving to 1-2 in conference matchups.

LMU proved its fight early on, winning No. 3 doubles 8-4 and No. 1 doubles in a tiebreaker for the doubles point. The Broncos wouldn't give in, however, storming back to stun the Lions.

Matt Kecki was on a roll at No. 4, overwhelming his opponent 6-1, 6-4. The win was Kecki's 10^th on the season and first since Feb. 18, as he was unavailable for the previous few weeks. LMU continued to receive solid production from their No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots. At No. 5, Tomaz Soltyka took the first set and battled until the end in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 final. Eugene Muchynski, who came up big in the win over No. 55 Tulane, fell 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6.

The Broncos' backs were against the wall, down 3-1 in the match with the remaining SCU players all having dropped the first set. No one would give in, however, and each individual came back in dominating fashion.

In the top spot, No. 63 John Lamble overcame a first set hiccup to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 for his 17^th win of the season (17-10). Lamble has won 10 of 11 matches with the only loss due to cramps. Ilya Osintsev, who dropped the first set 3-6, recovered nicely for the 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 final at No. 2. The victory improved Osintsev's record to 12-8 on the season.

With Lamble and Osintsev evening the match, Santa Clara's fate rested in the hands of Tom Pham at No. 4. Pham rebounded with a relentless effort despite a tiebreak loss in the first set, ultimately prevailing 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 before a large crowd of 50 people or more. After clinching the win, Pham yelled in celebration and high-fived his Bronco teammates.