SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After nearly two weeks without competitive action due to the elements, the Santa Clara men's tennis team is set to hit the courts this Saturday for a matchup against Fresno State University. The Broncos and Bulldogs will serve up the match at 11 a.m.
Santa Clara comes in with a 3-2 record overall, including a 2-1 mark at home. The No. 65 ranked Broncos will look to bounce back and find the winning column once again when they begin action on Saturday morning.
The Broncos
Playing in their first match of the month of February, Santa Clara will look to gain an early advantage and get off on the right foot against the unranked Bulldogs.
Last season, the Broncos took care of business and defeated the Bulldogs 4-0 at the Degheri Tennis Center, their first victory in program history against Fresno State after 18 unsuccessful attempts.
To date this season, Santa Clara has relied on its performances by its veterans. Junior Ashot Khacharyan, fresh off achieving his 40th career singles victory, boasts a 10-2 record overall and a perfect 3-0 standing in dual match action. Despite battling in his last match, the junior standout downed Alec Adamson of UC Davis in three sets to prolong his winning ways.
Ilya Osintsev, also perfect in dual match play, will put his 6-3 overall singles mark on the line this Saturday against a Fresno State squad that he has faced on two separate occasions during his Bronco career. Last year, the 6-foot, 4-inch lefty downed his Bulldog opponent 6-5, 6-1.
Combining in doubles, the No. 1 Santa Clara duo will look to find its winning ways once again. After starting out the season 3-0, Osintsev and Khacharyan have fallen 6-2 in their last two doubles matchups.
Fellow Eastern European, Mikheil Khmiadashili, avenged a loss three weekends ago with a 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 victory in his last time on the court against UC Davis. Playing primarily at the No. 3 singles position, the sophomore is off to a 5-2 start to the year. Last year, the then-freshman defeated Fresno State's Nikolas Papic in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
Senior Sam Bertram and freshmen Max Heerinckx and Sebastien Mathieu will look to regroup this weekend after tough outings against the Aggies in their last match.
Fresno State
The Bulldogs come into Saturday's matchup with a 3-1 record on the young season, including a mark of 1-1 away from home.
In their most recent match on Wednesday, the Bulldogs overcame the University of the Pacific 4-3, clinching their third consecutive victory.
Fresno State fell to California Polytechnic State University 4-3 in their season opener but has rebounded in recent matches, downing Saint Mary's College 5-2 on January 17 and handling Fresno City College 7-0 last week.
This season, the Bulldogs have been led by sophomore Eric Komati and freshman Youssef Hassan. Komati, clinching Fresno State's victory over Pacific, is a perfect 4-0 in singles. After starting the year undefeated, Hassan is now 3-1.
Euan McIntosh, a familiar foe to Santa Clara competitors, has been playing at the No. 1 singles spot for Fresno State in recent matches. The sophomore is 3-0 in his last three singles matchups, recently taking down Pacific's Sem Verbeek 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
McIntosh and his doubles partner Adam Glynn have competed primarily at the No. 1 doubles position for the Bulldogs. 2-0 in their previous two matches, the duo defeated Pacific's Marlon Brand and Daniel Alameh 8-3 on Wednesday and cruised to a 6-2 victory over the Saint Mary's College pairing of Arthur Weber and Wil Martin.
Prior to last season's defeat, Fresno State had dominated the series history against Santa Clara, winning 18 consecutive matches against the Broncos.
Be sure to check on SantaClaraBroncos.com for more on Santa Clara's performance against Fresno State. Stay up to date with everything men's tennis on Facebook, Instagram @santaclaramtennis, and Twitter @SCUmtennis. Go Broncos!
