WATCH | EYEBRONCO's Coverage of the Morning Victory!

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Riding the performances put forth by their veteran workhorses, the No. 56 men's tennis team handled the University of California, Santa Cruz and Sonoma State University in an opening day double header on Saturday. The Broncos cruised to a 4-0 rout of Santa Cruz before rolling past the Seawolves 4-0 as well.

With the win, Santa Clara moves to 2-0 overall on the new season while Santa Cruz and Sonoma State fall to 0-1.

The Broncos will return to the courts next weekend when they travel to Southern California to compete at the ITA Kick-Off in Los Angeles, Calif. Action begins on Saturday and continues through the weekend

Opening up doubles play against UCSC Saturday morning, Santa Clara received an early lift from two Bronco newcomers on Court 3. The recently assembled tandem of Max Heerinckx and Michael Standifer battled to a 6-4 victory to give the Broncos an early advantage over the Banana Slugs. Over on Court 1, the Russian native pairing of Ilya Osintsev and Ashot Khacharyan also found themselves in a highly competitive match against the Banana Slug's top tandem of Max Littlejohn and Garrett Deguchi. After splitting the first two games 2-2, the Bronco pairing found themselves in a hole down 4-2. Building energy and pressing on the attack, Santa Clara rallied to win four straight games to take the match 6-4 and secure the doubles point.

Transitioning to singles, three Santa Clara veterans carried the squad to victory. Competing on Court 3, sophomore Mikheil Khmiadashvili came out firing, opening up an early 3-1 lead on UCSC's Jimmy Soper. Attacking with power, the Tbilisi, Georgia native finished off the first set 6-2. Continuing to dominate, Khmiadashvili used his precision and placement to down Soper 6-2 in the second set and clinch the first singles point of the day.

Up 2-0 in the match, Khacharyan made quick work of the Banana Slug's Littlejohn in two sets 6-0, 6-2 on Court 1. Coming in as the No. 122 ranked singles player in the nation, Khacharyan utilized consistent precision on the offensive end to grab his eighth singles victory of the year.

With one more point needed, Santa Clara's 6-foot, 4-inch lefty provided the clinching performance. Once he found his groove, Osintsev rolled to a 6-1 victory in the first set. In set number two, Osintsev overpowered UCSC's Chad Stone with his serve and precise return game. The Santa Clara senior eventually put away his opponent 6-2 to clinch the first win of the season for Santa Clara.

After a break in the action, Santa Clara returned to the courts for the tail end of its double header in the early afternoon hours. Pitted against Sonoma State, the Broncos were once again led in the beginning by the newly paired tandem of Heerinckx and Standifer. The duo routed their Sonoma State opponents 6-0. Shortly thereafter, Osintsev and Khacharyan dropped the first game of their doubles match but rallied to win six straight to clinch the doubles point for the Broncos.

In singles, Khacharyan continued his winning ways with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over SSU's Philip Holbrook.

In the No. 4 position, senior Sam Bertram found the winning column after downing Vincent Paganetti 6-4, 6-3.

Once again, Osintsev put the exclamation point on a match with his 6-2, 6-1 victory over Noah Lee, clinching Santa Clara's second win of the day and second win of the season.

Check back on SantaClaraBroncos.com for more on next weekend's matches as the Broncos hit the road for the ITA Kick-Off. Stay up to date with Santa Clara men's tennis on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @SCUmtennis. Go Broncos!

Santa Clara University vs. University of California, Santa Cruz

Singles | Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Doubles | Order of finish: 3, 1

Santa Clara University vs. Sonoma State University

Singles | Order of finish: 1, 4, 2

Doubles | Order of finish: 3, 1