DAVIS, Calif. – Two members of the Bronco men's tennis squad made their first appearances of the year on Friday at the Aggie Invitational hosted by UC Davis. Ashot Khacharyan and Sam Bertram began their 2013-14 season successfully, going undefeated and advancing to the quarterfinals in the weekend tournament.
"It was a great way to start the fall for Ashot and Sam," said Bronco head coach Derek Mills. "We are looking forward to the next matches."
Kicking off his sophomore campaign after a 14-2 freshman season, Khacharyan dispatched Jamin Ball in the morning match. Khacharyan jumped ahead and never looked back, topping his Stanford opponent 6-1 in the first set and 2-1 in the second before Ball withdrew due to injury.
The Bronco righty faced Niranjan Ram of Sacramento State in his second contest and was again a straight-set winner, this time by a 6-4, 6-2 final. With the win, he advanced to the quarterfinals where he will battle Mads Engsted of Cal. Engsted, the No. 2 seed in his portion of the draw, prevailed in three sets over Joey Swaysland after dropping the first set.
Bertram made his collegiate debut and first appearance as a member of the Santa Clara team on Friday. He took on Sacramento State's Ayman Abdulwahab in his first match and came away with a 6-4, 6-3 win. In his second appearance, Bertram defeated Mathias Olsen of St. Mary's 6-2, 6-3, securing his place in the quarterfinals.
He will go up against UC Davis' Parker Kelly, the second seed in their draw, on Saturday. Kelly was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Fresno State's Ethan Lopez in his last match.
The two Broncos also played together in doubles and showed good chemistry right off the bat. They faced off against Chase Melton and Wyatt Houghton from Cal and came away with a strong 8-4 win. The Golden Bear duo was seeded third in their doubles draw.
On Saturday, Khacharyan and Bertram play Lopez and Nikolas Papic in the quarterfinals. The Grizzly duo won 8-6 in their Friday match.
All weekend matches will take place at the Marya Welch Tennis Center on the main UC Davis campus.
Check back here for the match results. Go Broncos!