SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Looking to bounce back from two consecutive losses, the Santa Clara men's tennis team aims to get on track this Saturday when it hosts the University of California, Santa Cruz at noon at the Degheri Tennis Center.
Over the past 10 years, Santa Clara has held the Banana Slugs in check, winning ten consecutive matches. Last year, the Broncos cruised to a 4-0 sweep on their home courts in January.
"We've had a rough going the past couple of matches," said Head Coach Derek Mills. "The guys have learned from those experiences and we are ready to get back in the win column this weekend."
The Broncos
Lone senior Ashot Khacharyan continues to lead the Broncos at the No. 1 singles position. Despite falling twice in row, Khacharyan rallied from a first set defeat against Boise State to score a 6-2, 6-4 result in sets two and three to claim his fourth victory of the year. Last season, Khacharyan rolled past UC Santa Cruz's Max Littlejohn 6-0, 6-2.
Connor Garnett, playing No. 4 singles, continues to lead the Broncos in singles victories. Boasting seven wins, the freshman is 4-1 while competing fourth in the lineup and found his winning form against Boise State, responding from a 6-3 first set defeat to win in the following sets by a score of 6-0, 7-5.
Rounding out the Santa Clara singles lineup, Kamran Khan enters Saturday's lineup with a 5-2 mark on the year and 4-1 record in dual match play while controlling the No. 5 spot. Sebastien Mathieu, holding an even 2-2 record, holds down the No. 6 position.
In the doubles portion, Seby and Garnett lead Santa Clara with a 4-1 record in dual match play and were the only tandem to claim a victory against Boise State. Playing at the No. 1 spot, Khacharyan and Gu boast a .500 mark of 2-2 but have fallen in their last two matches.
UC Santa Cruz
The Banana Slugs travel to the Mission Campus with a 2-1 record on the year. After dropping its first match to the University of California, Irvine, Santa Cruz responded to defeat both Westmont College and George Fox University by a 7-2 tally.
Chadwick Stone leads the Banana Slugs at the No. 1 singles spot, boasting a 1-2 record on the year. In his most recent match, the 6-footer grabbed his first victory of the season 6-2, 2-6, 1-0.
After dropping his first match of the year, Chad Le Duff is 2-0 in his last two matches while competing at the No. 2 spot, both in the form of straight set victories.
At the No. 3 spot, the Banana Slugs have featured three different competitors at that position through the first three matches of the season. Most recently, Kyle Richter rolled to a 6-2, 6-4 victory while competing at the third spot.
Alexander Flora, playing the last two matches at the fourth position, is an even 1-1 but suffered a 6-4, 6-3 defeat at the hands of George Fox.
At the fifth position, Derek Levchenko has been on roll as of late. During the past two matches, the 6-footer has dropped just five points en route to two straight set victories. Ryan Dugan, playing at the No. 6 spot, has also been finding some rhythm as of late. Riding a two match winning streak at the final position, the freshman came away with a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Westmont before cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 winner against George Fox.
Over in doubles, the Banana Slugs have reshuffled their lineup in each of their first three matches of the season. Most recently, the No. 1 pairing of Richter and Sirovica fell 8-6 while the Santa Cruz pairings on Courts 2 and 3 came away with victories.
Parking & Admission: Admission is free to Degheri Tennis Center. Parking is available in either the Leavey Center lot or the main campus parking structure. Click here for a campus parking map. Please note men's basketball faces BYU at 1 p.m. in Leavey Center.
