No. 64 Men's Tennis Edged 4-3 At Portland In Tight Match

No. 64 Men's Tennis Edged 4-3 At Portland In Tight Match

PORTLAND, Ore. – The No. 64 SCU men's tennis team was edged out by University of Portland on Sunday in a tight road contest. After defeating No. 39 Oregon on Wednesday, the Broncos fell just short, 4-3, in a highly competitive match with the Pilots.

"I thought it was a well-fought match on both sides," said Bronco head coach Derek Mills. "I thought Portland played great on their senior day. But it is very disappointing that the match got decided like it did."

The men's tennis team will host its 1st annual Alumni Weekend this weekend. The weekend will kick off when Santa Clara hosts Saint Mary's on Fri., Apr. 18 at 1pm. On Saturday, the Broncos will take on University of the Pacific at 1pm on Senior Day. In addition to honoring the Bronco seniors in between singles and doubles, the Alumni BBQ will be held during the match on Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday, the Alumni Match will be held from 10am until 12pm. Please RSVP for the BBQ and Alumni Match by emailing head coach Derek Mills at dmills@scu.edu.

Santa Clara is now 13-6 overall and 3-4 in the WCC. The team is 10-2 at home, 2-4 on the road and 1-0 at neutral sites.

The Broncos and Pilots played three close matches in doubles, but Portland came out on top. At No. 3 doubles, Sam Bertram and Michael Tjuatjadarma couldn't knock off their opponents, falling in an 8-5 final. Santa Clara's No. 2 duo, Ashot Khacharyan and Mikheil Khmiadashvili, came up just short, 8-6. The Broncos' No. 1 doubles tandem, John Lamble and Ilya Osintsev, were tied 7-7 when the doubles point was decided.

The teams split singles 3-3 in a competitive battle that featured a controversial finish. The Broncos picked up wins in the top two spots and No. 4 to earn a 3-2 lead, but the Pilots narrowly came out on top in the decisive matches.

At No. 1, Lamble grinded out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory. The senior upped his dual match record to a terrific 11-1 and he is 18-4 on the year. For his career, the righty sports a 78-35 overall mark and he has the second-most wins in program history.

Coming off an impressive straight-set win over Oregon's Robin Cambier, ranked No. 59 in the country, Bronco No. 2 Osintsev was excellent once again. The junior was a 6-4, 7-5 winner and moved to 12-1 during the regular season and 15-3 including the fall.

Khmiadashvili picked up the Broncos' third win with a 6-2, 6-4 victory. The lefty from Tbilisi, Georgia earned the 11th victory of his freshman season.

After earning the doubles point, Portland won the No. 3 singles match, as Khacharyan was topped 7-6, 6-1. The Broncos still had the lead and were ahead 3-2, however, and looked to take one of the two remaining matches.

In the fifth spot, Portland came away with a three-set win to even it up. After dropping the first set, 7-5, Bertram rallied for a strong 6-2 win in the second set.

The match came down to the sixth position, and Jesse Ross battled hard against his opponent. The Pilots won the first set, 6-3, but Santa Clara tied it up 4-4 in the second set with Portland serving. Ross went ahead 0-40 and was one point away from earning the break and serving for the set. However, one of Ross's line calls was overruled, and because it was the third overrule of the match, the game automatically went to Portland. After winning his serve and tying it back up at 5-5, Ross was once again overruled on a call, giving Portland the set and victory in a controversial finish.

Check back on SantaClaraBroncos.com for more on Alumni Weekend and the Broncos' final two home matches. Stay up to date with Santa Clara men's tennis on Facebook and Twitter @SCUmtennis. Go Broncos!

 

 Position

 University of Portland

 Santa Clara University

 Winner

 Score

 #1 Singles

 Michel HuKwo

 John Lamble

 Santa Clara University

 6-3,4-6,6-3

 #2 Singles

 Reid Delaubenfels

 Ilya Osintsev

 Santa Clara University

 6-4,7-5

 #3 Singles

 Ratan Gill

 Ashot Khacharyan

 University of Portland

 7-6,6-1

 #4 Singles

 Justin Guay

 Mikheil Khmiadashvili

 Santa Clara University

 6-2,6-4

 #5 Singles

 Kent Andreasen

 Sam Bertram

 University of Portland

 7-5,2-6,6-2

 #6 Singles

 Alex Wallace

 Jesse Ross

 University of Portland

 6-3,5-5 default

 #1 Doubles

 Michel HuKwo 
 Justin Guay

 Ilya Osintsev 
 John Lamble

 Unfinished

 7-7

 #2 Doubles

 Kent Andreasen 
 Reid Delaubenfels

 Ashot Khacharyan 
 Mikheil Khmiadashvili

 University of Portland

 8-6

 #3 Doubles

 Alex Wallace 
 Ratan Gill

 Michael Tjuatjadarma 
 Sam Bertram

 University of Portland

 8-5