SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Opening up its 2016 dual match season, the Santa Clara men's tennis team shut out Sonoma State University 7-0 on Wednesday afternoon to jump out to a 1-0 start to the year.
Following two victories to seal the doubles point, all six Bronco singles competitors took down their Sonoma State opponents in straight sets to claim the victory and improve to 8-1 against the Seawolves during head coach Derek Mills' career.
"It feels pretty awesome," said freshman Connor Garnett, one of five Broncos playing in his first collegiate dual match today. "I mean, I was nervous at first but it just felt relieving to get that first win under our belts."
The newly assembled doubles team of Robert Seby and Garnett helped the Broncos get out in front early. Finding some momentum early on, the tandem jumped out to a 4-0 lead and eventually finished off Sullivan Roche and Daniel Holz by a score of 6-1.
"In doubles, Rob and I had some good chemistry out there," said Garnett.
Next door on Court 1, Ashot Khacharyan and Andrew Gu partnered together for the first time as well and downed Blaine Mengert and Logan Liddell 6-1. A balance of Khacharyan's placement on return shots and Gu's power serve helped the duo clinch Santa Clara's first doubles point of the year.
"I think that there's some little more room to improve on but I think overall I had a pretty good day," said Gu.
Transitioning to singles, Garnett, Santa Clara's leader in singles victories from the fall, kept his strong start rolling against Christian Francisco competing at the No. 4 spot. The Santa Clara freshman jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set and cruised to a 6-1 finish. In the following set, Garnett's return placement helped him roll to another 6-1 result.
"I just felt the rhythm today," he said. "I felt like my forehand was working pretty well today and I was just really coming forward and that was helping me out."
Over on Court 5, Kamran Khan clinched his first dual match singles victory of the season and Santa Clara's third point of the day. The lefty from Dallas, Texas had his opponent running from sideline to sideline in the first set, resulting in a 6-0 rout for the Santa Clara freshman. In the second set, Khan continued on the offensive attack en route to a 6-2 finish.
Santa Clara's lone senior, Khacharyan, finished the deal on Court 1 with a 6-1, 6-0 victory, capturing his 51st career singles victory wearing the red and white in the process. Despite dropping the first point in set number one, the righty settled down and returned to his winning ways to claim the first set. Following the break, the Sochi, Russia native tapped into his serve and placement precision to finish off Holz.
After the match was decided, three remaining Broncos continued their matches. On Court 6, Sebastien Mathieu found the win column after defeating Kevin To by a score of 6-3, 6-1. The sophomore battled back-and-forth with his opponent for the first seven points of set number one but the Santa Clara lefty managed to break away and cruise to his first victory of his sophomore campaign after missing fall play.
A 6-0, 6-3 winner from Gu on Court 3 and a 6-3, 6-1 victory from Seby on Court 4 capped the sweep for Santa Clara. Gu's powerful serve helped him jump out early in his match against Liddell and he managed to hold on in set number two while Seby survived lengthy rallies in the first set and also found his serve late to fend off Mengert.
The Broncos return to action this Saturday when they host Grand Canyon University at 1:00 p.m.
"We're just ready for the next match and we'll go with the same thing and do whatever we need to do to get that win again," said Gu.