SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Kicking off its West Coast Conference slate of matches, Santa Clara hosts the University of Pacific this Friday at noon before challenging the Gaels from Saint Mary's College at the same time on Saturday.
Last season, the Broncos (6-7) gutted out a 4-3 victory over the Gaels (4-8) but dropped a 5-2 decision to the Tigers (10-7), both matches being played away from the Degheri Tennis Center. Over the course of the past 10 seasons, Santa Clara boasts a winning mark of 8-6 over Saint Mary's and a slim 4-3 edge over Pacific.
"The WCC schedule is a whole new challenge for us," said Head Coach Derek Mills. "The quality of competition continues to get better and better and we need to be playing with some intensity this weekend to get ourselves off to a winning start."
The Broncos
Fresh off a 7-0 loss to the University of Tulane, the 22nd-ranked squad in the country, the Broncos will look to get back on track this weekend in the second and third matches of their four-match homestand. Competing at home, Santa Clara is nearly perfect at 5-1.
As he has done all season, Ashot Khacharyan leads the way for the Broncos at the No. 1 singles position. Posting a 6-5 mark at the top singles spot, the senior will look to bounce back after falling 6-4, 6-4 to the No. 1 ranked singles competitor in the nation on Tuesday. History bodes well for the lone Santa Clara senior. In two matches against the Gaels, Khacharyan is unblemished at 2-0. In three appearances against the Tigers, he is 2-1.
With Andrew Gu out of the lineup against Tulane, Robert Seby once again took over the reigns at the No. 2 spot. Despite a loss, the freshman is still 3-1 in his last four appearances. Assuming control of the No. 3 spot, Connor Garnett heads into conference play with a team-high 10 victories. Right behind, Kamran Khan sports a 9-6 record on the year and 8-5 mark in dual match competition.
Looking to get some wins under their belt, Sebastien Mathieu and Jeffrey Liang look to get ahead early and maintain momentum this weekend competing at the backend of the singles rotation. Both competitors are a combined 0-6 since mid-February.
In doubles, Seby and Garnett continue to lead the squad with five victories and the duo recently took over control at the No. 1 spot. Next door, Khan and Liang also made a change and saw action at the second position. The freshmen tandem is 4-4 on the year but losers of their last three matches. In the final doubles spot, Khacharyan and Max Heerinckx partnered together for the first time all year against Tulane, resulting in a 6-3 win.
Pacific
Rolling through a season of ups and downs, Pacific enters Friday's match with a 10-7 record overall and 3-4 mark while competing on the road, not including the result of the Tigers' matchup with No. 43 Stanford University today.
Prior to the Stanford match, Pacific is riding a three-match winning streak and has already taken care of business against WCC foes from the University of San Francisco and Gonzaga University.
Powering Pacific at the No. 1 singles position, Sem Verbeek holds an 11-2 mark in dual match play with nine out of those 11 wins coming in the form of straight set routs. The 6-foot, 3-inch senior is 1-1 against Santa Clara in dual matches during his time with the Tigers. In similar fashion on Court 2, Daniel Alameh has had all but one of his eight singles victories end in straight sets. The senior also sports a 1-1 mark against Bronco competitors in dual match play.
Aside from the workhorses at the top of Pacific's lineup, positions three through six have been marred by inconsistency. Miguel Diaz and Alex Giannini both possess five victories at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots respectively but Diaz, a 5-foot, 4-inch junior is 1-3 in his last four outings and Giannini, a 6-foot, 4-inch junior is 3-5 since mid-February.
The final two singles positions belong to Kumara Adavelly and Lance Ngo. Adavelly is winless at 0-3 while competing at the fifth spot and Ngo is just one win better at 1-3 at the sixth position.
Coming in at No. 62 in the recent ITA rankings, Verbeek and Jose Chamba lead the Tigers at the No. 1 doubles position. The duo is 5-2 on the year and undefeated in their last three matches. The Tigers' strength in doubles continues at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. So far this year, seven different tandems have combined to collect a 14-7 record at the final two doubles spots.
Saint Mary's
1-4 in their last five outings, the Saint Mary's Gaels hold a 4-8 mark on the year riding into conference action, including a 0-3 mark while challenging opponents on the road. Before taking on the Broncos on Saturday, the Gaels will play a back-to-back against Eastern Washington University on Thursday and USF on Friday.
Identical to his squad's team record, Thomas Alex Hunt is 4-8 on the season playing exclusively at the No. 1 singles position. The senior has fared well against the Broncos in dual match play during his ride with Saint Mary's, boasting a 2-0 record.
Recently making a change, James Marckiewicz now leads the Gaels at the No. 2 position and Manuel De Luis Lamelas assumes control of the third spot. Markiewicz fell to his Nevada opponent while De Luis Lamelas picked up the slack with a three set victory.
The fourth spot has statistically been the Gaels' strongest to date. Three different student-athletes have amassed a 5-3 record and most recently, Jacob Lagman cruised to a straight set victory.
The backend of the Saint Mary's lineup is a combined 8-11 during dual matches. Both Matthew Campana, playing No. 5, and Alec Wagner, playing No. 6, were defeated against the Wolfpack.
In doubles, Hunt and Markiewicz have carried the Gaels throughout the season with their 4-1 mark and current three match winning streak. In stark contrast, the Gaels have been lacking production at the final two spots. A total of 10 different pairings have suited up at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, combining for six wins to go along with 14 losses.
Parking & Admission: Admission is free to Degheri Tennis Center. Metered parking should be available in the Leavey Center lot, which is adjacent to the tennis center. Click here for a campus map and parking information.
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