SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The No. 64 Bronco men's tennis team returns to the Mission Campus this weekend, looking to pick up a win and build momentum for the season's final stretch. The Broncos faced two very competitive teams on the road last weekend, falling to No. 38 University of San Diego and No. 42 San Diego State. Santa Clara has three remaining matches prior to the WCC Tournament, all against conference foes: USF (2-3 WCC), Gonzaga (0-5 WCC) and Portland (2-3 WCC).
The Broncos will square off against the University of San Francisco Dons on Saturday, April 13. The match is scheduled for 11 am at the Degheri Tennis Center.
Santa Clara's record is 13-9 overall and it is 1-4 in WCC matches. The Broncos are 10-3 at home, 1-5 on the road and 2-1 in neutral contests.
The Broncos gave it their all against No. 38 University of San Diego on Sunday, but came away empty-handed in another tough road match, this time by a 6-1 final. The Broncos defeated USD 4-3 during the regular season in 2012, but were unable to top the hosts in this matchup. On Friday, Santa Clara was swept by San Diego State at the Aztec Tennis Center.
University of San Francisco Dons
The USF Dons are 10-6-1 on the season and 2-3 in the WCC. In their last match against St. Mary's in Moraga, the Dons pulled off an exciting 4-3 win for their second conference victory.
USF took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3, which was the 14th consecutive match that they have won the doubles point and 16th time in 17 contests. Bernardo Saraiva made his first appearance at No. 1 singles and picked up a strong 7-6, 6-2 victory over No. 100 Jesse Kiuru. With the match at 2-2, Nils Skajaa overcame an early deficit to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 and clinch the USF win.
The Dons topped LMU on March 30th for their first WCC win, recording a 5-2 final. USF used the doubles point plus wins at No. 1-3 singles and No. 5 singles to take down the Lions.
Last Time Out
No. 38 USD took two of three doubles matches, marking the fifth straight time Santa Clara's opponent has won the doubles point. At No. 2, Matt Kecki and Tom Pham were victorious over their opponents, 8-5, for Santa Clara's win. The Toreros rode the momentum into singles, where they won five of six matchups.
The Broncos' victory came at No. 1 singles, where John Lamble was a straight-set winner. Lamble, who is ranked No. 82 in the country, bested Thibaut Visy 6-4, 6-4 in a strong effort. The junior from Saratoga improved to 18-12 on the season and is second on the team in wins.
Santa Clara dropped its third straight match while USD picked up its third win in a row. The Broncos fell to No. 43 San Diego State 7-0 on Friday, April 5th and to then-No. 6 Pepperdine 4-2 on Saturday, March 30th.
John Lamble: WCC Player of the Month for March
John Lamble was honored by the WCC as the WCC Men's Tennis Singles Player of the Month for March.
Lamble, ranked No. 82 in the country with an 18-12 record, turned in a tremendous March as the leader of the No. 64 Bronco squad. The junior from Saratoga, Calif. went 7-2 overall in singles during March including a six match winning streak to kick off the month. His efforts kept the team strong despite missing several starters for the majority of the month, and the Broncos rallied in the rankings as a result, moving up to No. 56 in the April 2 edition.
With three straight wins coming into March, Lamble picked up where he left off, extending his winning streak with an additional six consecutive victories. Lamble's seventh and final win of the month came against LMU, as Lamble rallied after dropping the first set to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. This match proved to be key in helping the Broncos win 4-3 and pick up their first conference win of the season.
The last time a Bronco received WCC Player of the Month accolades came last year: Lamble and Ilya Osintsev were named the doubles team of the year for March, 2012.
March Recap
In March, Santa Clara went 5-4 with four 4-3 wins (UC Irvine, Furman, No. 55 Tulane and LMU) and one 5-2 win over Northern Arizona. The Broncos fell 5-2 to St. Mary's on March 1st and were edged 4-3 by Pacific and Purdue. Santa Clara also was defeated by No. 6 Pepperdine, 4-2. The team hung tough during a challenging stretch where several key players were unavailable. Back at full strength, the Broncos are looking to make a strong final push in the WCC.
Global Perspectives
The Bronco men's tennis program has players and coaches from four countries, including three international players and two international coaches … the SCU roster features four players from the United States, two players from Russia and one player from Poland … the coaching staff also includes one Czech native in first-year assistant coach Rudy Siwy.