OGDEN, Utah – Santa Clara men's tennis earned its fourth straight win of the dual spring season on Friday by a score of 4-2 at Weber State.
The Broncos dropped the doubles point but came back to win four singles matches and earn their second road victory of the season.
Sophomore Robert Seby and freshman Jesus Tapiador Barajas fell on court one in their second-ever match together, 6-3. Sophomores Andrew Gu and Kamran Khan lost 6-3 on court three as well while court two went unfinished.
"I think we came in a little confident in the doubles and were a little too flat and casual," head coach Niall Angus said. "When things didn't go our way we were too slow to react. It's a sprint in doubles and we treated it as a marathon. We got caught napping there a little bit.
Santa Clara has dropped the doubles match three other times this season (Nevada, Tulane and LSU) and came back to win two of those matches. Each of the singles matches went two sets with the Broncos winning four of the five matches that were completed.
"That's the one thing that's continued throughout this season and that is that we don't give up," Angus said. "It's always nice to get doubles point but knowing we're capable of winning on every court in singles is huge. We come together and fight and are always positive."
Gu picked up his third straight win with a 6-3, 7-5 result over Stefan Cooper on court two. Sophomore Connor Garnett won 6-3, 6-2 on court three over Kris Van Wyk for his fourth consecutive victory and his ninth in his last 10 matches. Freshman Vasileios Iliopoulos defeated Michiel Van Schoor on court five by a score of 6-1, 7-6 to move to 8-5 overall in singles play. Khan won 6-2, 6-2 on court six against Cezary Walkusz to bring his dual singles record to 5-1 on the season.
"We got a very quick win on court six by Kam (Khan) which was huge to get us some confidence," Angus said. "Then Vasilieios was able to clinch it for us."
The Broncos and Cougars square off on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT in the first West Coast Conference match of the season for SCU.
"Weber State is a very good team," Angus said. "I'm looking forward to playing BYU now that we have a match under our belts at this altitude. We'll get a good practice in later today and a practice tomorrow morning to get ready for our evening match. I'm excited."
SCU 4, WSU 2
March 3, 2017 | Ogden Athletic Club (Ogden, Utah)
DOUBLES
1. YIN, Shao-Po (Jack)/COOPER, Stefan (WSU) def. Robert Seby/Jesus Barajas (SCU) 6-3
2. Connor Garnett/Vasileios Iliopoulos (SCU) vs. VAN WYK, Kris/VAN SCHOOR, Michiel (WSU) 4-3
3. CHEN, Hou-En (Eddie)/WALKUSZ, Cezary (WSU) def. Andrew Gu/Kamran Khan (SCU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3
SINGLES
1. Robert Seby (SCU) vs. YIN, Shao-Po (Jack) (WSU) 6-4, 4-6, 0-1
2. Andrew Gu (SCU) def. COOPER, Stefan (WSU) 6-3, 7-5
3. Connor Garnett (SCU) def. VAN WYK, Kris (WSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. CHEN, Hou-En (Eddie) (WSU) def. Jesus Barajas (SCU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Vasileios Iliopoulos (SCU) def. VAN SCHOOR, Michiel (WSU) 6-1, 7-6
6. Kamran Khan (SCU) def. WALKUSZ, Cezary (WSU) 6-2, 6-2
