No. 60 Bronco Men's Tennis Defeats Gonzaga 4-0 in First Round of WCC Tournament; Face USF Thursday in Quarterfinals

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Santa Clara men's tennis team came out focused and energized in its opening-round match of the WCC tournament. No. 4 Santa Clara bested No. 9 Gonzaga by a 4-0 final.  The Broncos earned a quarterfinal showdown with University of San Francisco who the Broncos defeated 4-3 on April 13. The Broncos, ranked No. 60 nationally, used a dominant doubles performance and wins from all three seniors to take down the Bulldogs.

"I thought we played inspired doubles," said Bronco head coach Derek Mills. "Our seniors once again carried us in singles."

Santa Clara faces USF on Thurs., March 25 at 12:30 in the quarterfinals of the WCC Tournament, hosted at the Barnes Tennis Center. No. 5 USF barely avoided an upset bid by No. 8 Loyola Marymount on Wednesday, coming through with a 4-3 victory. The Dons won the doubles point and the top three singles positions. The WCC Championship format features a single elimination bracket with the Championship taking place on Saturday, April 27.

Santa Clara is 17-9 overall and 5-4 in WCC matches. The Broncos are 13-3 on their home courts, 1-5 on the road and 3-1 in neutral contests. Gonzaga finished 7-13 overall and 0-9 against West Coast Conference teams in 2013.

The Broncos continued their strong doubles play, dominating in the top two positions. Matt Kecki and Tom Pham got the Broncos on the board with a perfect 8-0 victory. It was the second 8-0 doubles win for Pham and the first for Kecki during the 2013 season, and they upped their winning streak to five matches with seven wins in eight tries. John Lamble and Ilya Osintsev were in control the entire match, prevailing 8-3 at No. 1. The pair picked up their third consecutive victory and they have won six of seven contests.

Turning to the individual portion of the match, the Broncos picked up where they left off with continued passionate play. Kecki improved to 15-7 with his fourth consecutive win, this time by a 6-2, 6-4 final at No. 3. Pham extended the Bronco lead to 3-0 and racked up his 24^th win of the season (24-9 overall) in a one-sided 6-2, 6-3 match in the fourth spot. The victory was Pham's third straight and he now has 88 wins during his Bronco career which increases his all-time program wins record.

Eugene Muchynski, playing at No. 6, won his second straight match and avenged a 7-6, 7-6 loss to the same opponent last weekend. The senior from San Jose took the first set 6-3 before falling behind 5-3 in the second set. Muchynski dug deep, however, saving multiple set points and winning the last four games of the match for a 7-5 final. With the Bronco win clinched, the remaining three matches were halted per WCC Tournament rules.

Lamble battled valiantly against a tough, fit opponent who had incredible court coverage. Despite two set points Lamble was unable to convert, falling in a tiebreaker in the first set and then winning the first game of the second set. Osintsev had won the first set, 6-4, and was tied 5-5 in a second set tiebreaker at No. 2; however, the unlucky timing did not allow Osintsev to play for the win. At No. 5, Tomasz Soltyka was down 6-7, 1-4 when play was stopped.