SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's tennis continued its strong start to the spring dual season with a 4-1 home victory over Grand Canyon on Sunday.
Robert Seby and Andrew Gu, the top two singles players for the Broncos (7-1), were able to win in straight sets to build a commanding 3-0 lead, then Connor Garnett battled back from a set down to clinch the team's third-straight win and remain undefeated at home.
The two unfinished matches against the Antelopes (7-6), who won at San Francisco on Saturday, were in the third set.
"I don't think the score does Grand Canyon's performance justice," Santa Clara head coach Niall Angus said. "It was a real fight out there. Our guys came up big. The difference was in the big moments we were more aggressive."
Seby paired with Jesus Tapiador Barajas on the No. 1 court and defeated the Grand Canyon duo of Philip Kuehnen and Adrian Legarreta 6-4 to clinch the doubles point.
"The doubles was really good to see," Angus said. "Our guys came out with new pairings and were very successful with high energy. That was a real positive for the day."
Gu easily dispatched Grand Canyon's Mathieu Rajaonah 6-1, 6-1, ahead of Seby's 6-3, 6-2 victory over Francois Musitelli.
"It's always good to have points on the board at the start of singles," Angus said. "Both of those guys have had to step up and play some high positions compared to last season. It was really good to see them reap the rewards of their hard work."
Garnett had to rebound on court No. 3 after losing 6-0 in the opening set to Adrian Legarreta. Garnett won the second set 6-3 and then rolled past Legarreta 6-0 to help the Broncos improve to 6-0 at home this spring.
The Broncos now hit the road for a pair of matches in Utah, including the West Coast Conference opener. They play at Weber State Friday and face BYU the following day in the opening league match for both teams.
SCU 4, GCU 1
Feb. 26, 2017 | Degheri Tennis Center (Santa Clara, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) Seby/Barajas (SCU) def. Kuehnen/Legarreta (GCU) – 6-4
(2) Garnett/Iliopoulos (SCU) def. Lang/Fucile (GCU) – 6-3
(3) Gu/Khan (SCU) vs. Balenci/Cvitanovic (GCU) – 5-4, unfinished
SCU wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 1*
(1) Robert Seby (SCU) def. Francois Musitelli (GCU) – 6-3, 6-2
(2) Andrew Gu (SCU) def. Mathieu Rajaonah (GCU) – 6-1, 6-1
(3) Connor Garnett (SCU) def. Adrian Legarreta (GCU) – 0-6, 6-3, 6-0
(4) Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) def. Jesus Tapiador Barajas (SCU) – 3-6, 6-4
(5) Vasileios Iliopoulos (SCU) vs. Justin Cvitanovic (GCU) – 1-6, 6-2, 5-1
(6) Kamran Khan (SCU) vs. Valentin Lang (GCU) – 4-6, 6-3, 1-1
Order of finish: 2, 1, 4, 3*
* - clinched victory
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