SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The West Coast Conference league office announced its Men's All-Tournament Team on Saturday, and John Lamble and Ilya Osintsev were both honored. The outstanding Bronco duo was named the No. 1 team for the doubles squad. Osintsev was selected as the No. 2 player in the singles lineup.
Both players made significant contributions in helping No. 59 Santa Clara reach the tournament semifinals and finish fourth in the WCC regular season standings. They guided the Bronco squad to wins over St. Mary's, 4-3, in the first round and USF, 4-0, in the quarterfinals.
In doubles against USF, Lamble and Osintsev cruised 8-3 and got the Broncos on the board first. They knocked off the Dons' top doubles duo for the fourth straight time dating back to last season. The righty-lefty pair also secured an 8-4 win over St. Mary's to clinch the doubles point for Santa Clara.
The tandem finished an impressive 17-3 in 2014 dual matches and racked up 39 career wins, second-most in program history. Lamble and Osintsev were named All-WCC First Team in 2014 and Honorable Mention in 2013. They will go down as one of the most successful doubles teams all-time.
Osintsev had a nearly perfect season, one of the best individual performances in Bronco history.
In the matchup with USF Osintsev was the first to finish, crushing his opponent in a 6-3, 6-2 final at No. 2. Against St. Mary's, Santa Clara was down 3-2 and needed a victory to stay in the match. The Russian, who was locked in a hotly-contested battle, answered the bell. After splitting sets the third set was all tied up at 5-5, but the Bronco junior stayed tough and pulled out the final two games to earn a 7-5 victory.
Osintsev dropped just one match for a remarkable 14-1 dual match record in 2014. The former WCC Freshman of the Year also earned WCC Singles Player of the Week honors three times this season, the only player in the conference to accomplish the feat.
2014 West Coast Conference Men's Tennis All-Tournament Team
Men's Doubles West Coast Conference All-Tournament Team
No. 1. - John Lamble/Ilya Osintsev – Santa Clara
No. 2. - Uros Petronijevic/Romain Kalaydjian – San Diego
No. 3. - Miguel Diaz/Alex Hamilton – Pacific
Men's Singles West Coast Conference All-Tournament Team
No. 1 - Clarke Spinosa – San Diego
No. 2 - Ilya Osintsev – Santa Clara
No. 3 - Ratan Gill – Portland
No. 4 - Daniel Alameh – Pacific
No. 5 - Ciaran Fitzgerald – San Diego
No. 6 – Germain Bahri – San Francisco