WCC Tournament Central | Video: Angus, Khan Preview WCC Championship
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's tennis will play in the WCC Men's Tennis Tournament this weekend as the No. 6 seed. The Broncos will face No. 3 seed BYU at 1 p.m. PT on Thursday. The competition will take place at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, California.
Santa Clara posted a 14-7 (4-5 WCC) record during the regular season and finished in sixth place overall in the league. The team enters the postseason having lost its last four matches. BYU boasted a record of 13-11 overall during the regular season and went 6-3 in conference matches but also lost its last two matches. BYU won 10 of its 13 matches on the year at home, going 2-8 on the road and 1-1 in neutral matches. The Cougars won the first matchup of the season between the two teams by a score of 4-2 in Provo, Utah.
"I think this time around I think the team will take a lot more confidence into the match," head coach Niall Angus said. "It's outdoors and not at altitude makes a massive difference. We're looking forward to this match and we're really ready to go."
VIDEO | @SCUMTennis' Niall Angus, Kamran Khan Preview 2017 #WCCChamps #StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos FULL CLIP: https://t.co/w2RiT7Euso pic.twitter.com/kq9CGheTd1
— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) April 26, 2017
Sophomore Robert Seby boasts a 9-9 singles record in dual match play, he played on court one all season except for the last two matches where he played on court two. Sophomore Andrew Gu is 13-5 playing on court two until the final weekend where he played on court one. Sophomore Connor Garnett is 14-4 on court three in dual match play. The trio has combined for a 36-18 record in singles play.
Freshman Jesus Tapiador Barajas owns a 9-8 record on court four for SCU and had the match-clinching victory for the Broncos at Pacific (March 31). Freshman Vasileios Iliopoulos is 13-6 in match play (1-0 on court four and 12-6 on court five), including the clinching win for the Broncos at LSU (Feb. 3). Kamran Khan is 1-0 on court five this year and 6-7 on court six.
"You get to the end of the season and people pick up nicks and little injuries," Angus said. "It's about pushing through to the very end and making sure you empty the tank because you can rest in the summer. That's what we'll preach to our guys."
Should Santa Clara defeat BYU, the Broncos would face No. 2 seed Pepperdine on Friday at 2 p.m. PT in the semifinal round. The final will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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