No. 74 Men's Tennis Bests Fresno State 4-0; Earns First Win Over Bulldogs in Program History

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The No. 74 Bronco men's tennis team continued its early-season momentum, defeating Fresno State on Sunday. The Broncos clinched the match 4-0, topping the Bulldogs for the first time in program history. The schools had faced off 18 times prior to Sunday's contest. Santa Clara has now reeled off four consecutive 4-0 victories since falling to No. 4 USC in the ITA Kick-Off weekend.

In its next match, Santa Clara will face No. 53 San Diego State on Thurs., Feb. 20. The Broncos and Aztecs will face off at 3pm at the Degheri Tennis Center. San Diego State was a 6-1 winner at No. 66 BYU on Saturday.

The Broncos' record is now 5-1 on the 2014 season after Sunday's win. The team is a perfect 4-0 on their home courts, 0-1 on the road, and 1-0 in neutral site matches.

After wet courts delayed the start of the match three hours, the Broncos went to work on Fresno State. In doubles, John Lamble and Ilya Osintsev made quick work of their opponents, taking home a 6-1 win in the top spot. The Bronco upperclassman duo is 5-1 on the season including four straight wins.

Although Fresno State won the No. 3 doubles match, the Broncos answered moments later with a win in the second position to clinch the doubles point. Sam Bertram and Ashot Khacharyan combined for the decisive victory in a 6-3 final. The pair is 6-1 and they have won four consecutive matches.

In singles, Santa Clara topped Fresno State behind several strong performances in the No. 2 – No. 4 spots. Osintsev went into a tiebreaker in his first set but held on for the win. In the second set, the junior slammed the door, 6-1. He has a 7-2 overall mark and is 3-0 during the dual match season.

At No. 3 singles, Khacharyan also had to battle in the first set tiebreaker before coming away with the victory. He too turned in a dominating second set, winning 6-1. The sophomore from Sochi, Russia is 6-2 overall and is undefeated in his past four dual matches.

Freshman Mikheil Khmiadashvili won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 singles. With the victory, his record improved to 2-2.

Lamble, Bertram, and freshman Jesse Ross did not finish their matches before the contest was decided.

Check out SantaClaraBroncos.com for more on Santa Clara's upcoming matches. Stay up to date with everything men's tennis on Facebook and Twitter @SCUmtennis. Go Broncos!