WEST POINT, N.Y. - Santa Clara men's tennis played three matches over the weekend going 1-2 in its dual match season opener at the East Coast Challenge hosted by Army.

 

The Broncos played two matches on Saturday, losing both 4-2 against Yale and Florida Atlantic, inside Lichtenberg Tennis Center before coming back with a 4-0 win against Army on Sunday.    

 

"We played against Yale and Florida Atlantic, who on paper were expected to beat us, and played them tough.  On the remaining matches on court, we were winning against both before they clinched the win so it was very positive in our opening showing," said Broncos head coach Niall Angus.  "Obviously its disappointing to lose but it goes to show we are close to their caliber and we can take that confidence and use it as a springboard for the season."

 

 

Santa Clara (0-1) dropped the doubles point in a close contest against the Bulldogs (1-0) with all three matches going to tie breaks before eventually losing on courts two and three.  The No.1 team of Andrew Gu and Robert Seby won, 7-6, over Yale's Fedor Andrienko and Stefan Doehler.  

 

"It was positive to see the doubles group perform as they did in the tight matches.  I feel it was an improvement over last year," said Broncos head coach Niall Angus.  

 

In singles play, No. 4 Connor Garnett picked up Santa Clara's first point of the day defeating Dylan King in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.  Gu, playing No. 1 singles, edged out Andrew Heller, 7-5, 7-6 (4), to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 3-2.  

 

The Broncos were in a good position to tie the match but Yale's Stefan Doehler came back to defeat Jesus Tapiador Barajas in court three, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, to clinch the Yale victory.  

 

 

Santa Clara (0-2) lost, 4-2, in the backend of the double header on Saturday against Florida Atlantic (1-2).  Similar to the morning session against Yale, the Broncos fell just short in doubles play splitting the doubles matches in courts two and three with No. 2 doubles Vasileios Iliopoulos and Jesus Tapiador Barajas picking up the win before FAU's No. 1 doubles team of Remi Chancerel and Gabriel Sidney beat Seby and Gu, 7-5 to clinch the doubles point.  

 

In singles action, the Owls won on courts two, five and six to secure the 4-2 victory. Sophomore Jesus Tapiador Barajas was in position to win on court three but the match went unfinished. 

 

Gu was Saturday's top performer for the Broncos, picking up a win in doubles and two wins in singles play.  

 

"It was really good to see Andrew Gu step up playing against two very good players in Yale's Andrew Heller and Florida Atlantic's Jason Legall.  If Gu take this experience and run with it, the sky is the limit for him," said Angus.  

 

 

Santa Clara (1-2) earned its first win of the dual match season, blanking Army, 4-0, on Sunday as the Broncos did not drop a single set on any of the winning courts.  Robert Seby playing on court two picked up the clinching point with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Gregory Shannon.  

 

In doubles action, the Broncos pair of Kamran Khan and Connor Garnett defeated Michael Sienko and David Mitchell in a 6-2 decision on court three.  Then, Seby and Gu clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 win over Michael Nguyen and Gregory Shannon on Court one.  

 

Iliopoulos kept things rolling for the Broncos in singles play, defeating Dylan Simonsen in Court five to pick up his first singles win in 2018.  Garnett defeated Mitchell on court four, 6-4, 6-2 before Seby's match clincher.  

 

Garnett finished the weekend with three singles wins and a doubles win, matching Gu's team-high four wins.  

 

"It was nice to see Connor with his good run of form," Angus said.  

 

The Broncos host three matches next week, starting with Holy Names and Sonoma State on Saturday at 10 a.m. PT and UC Santa Cruz on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT

 

 

1. Seby/Gu (SCU) def. Doehler/Andrienko (YALE) – 7-6

2. Heller/Cheng (YALE) def. Iliopoulos/Barajas (SCU) – 7-6

3. Z. Wang/King (YALE) def. Khan/Garnett (SCU) – 7-6

 

Yale wins doubles point.

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2 

 

1. Andrew Gu (SCU) def. Andrew Heller (YALE) – 7-5, 7-6 (4)

2. Robert Seby (SCU) vs. Ziqi Wang (YALE) – Did Not Finish

3. Stefan Doehler (YALE) def. Jesus Tapiador Barajas (SCU) – 4-6, 7-5, 6-3

4. Connor Garnett (SCU) def. Dylan King (YALE) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

5. Ryan Cheng (YALE) def. Vasileios Iliopoulos (SCU) 6-4, 6-2

6. Fedor Andrienko (YALE) def. Kamran Khan (SCU) – 7-6, 7-5

7. Nate Brown (YALE) def. Sebastien Mathieu (SCU) – 6-3, 6-1

 

Order of finish: 5, 4, 6, 1, 3*

* - clinched victory

 

 

1. Chancerel/Sidney (FAU) def. Seby/Gu (SCU) – 7-5

2. Iliopoulos/Barajas (SCU) def. Legall/Guy (FAU) – 6-2

3. Garcia/Stefani (FAU) def. Khan/Garnett (SCU) – 6-2

 

FAU wins doubles point.

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1 

 

1. Andrew Gu (SCU) def. Jason Legall (FAU) – 6-1, 6-2

2. Remi Chancerel (FAU) def. Robert Seby (SCU) – 6-4, 6-1

3. Jesus Tapiador Barajas (SCU) vs. Ignacio Garcia (FAU) – 4-6, 6-1, 3-1 Unfinished

4. Connor Garnett (SCU) def. Gabriel Sidney (FAU) – 6-4, 6-4

5. Thomas Bugeaud (FAU) def. Vasileios Iliopoulos (SCU) 6-3, 6-2

6. Thomas Guy (FAU) def. Kamran Khan (SCU) – 6-2, 6-2

 

Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 4, 2*

* - clinched victory

 

 

1. Seby/Gu (SCU) def. Nguyen/Shannon (ARMY) – 6-2

2. Iliopoulos/Barajas (SCU) vs. Conlin/Simonsen (ARMY) – 5-4 Unfinished

3. Khan/Garnett (SCU) def. Sienko/Mitchell – 6-2

 

SCU wins doubles point.

Order of finish: 3, 1 

 

1. Andrew Gu (SCU) def. Michael Nguyen (ARMY) – 6-1, 4-4 Unfinished

2. Robert Seby (SCU) def. Gregory Shannon – 6-4, 6-1

3. Jesus Tapiador Barajas (SCU) vs. Myles Conlin (ARMY) – 6-2, 5-5 Unfinished

4. Connor Garnett (SCU) def. David Mitchell (ARMY) – 6-3, 6-2

5. Vasileios Iliopoulos (SCU) def. Dylan Simonsen (ARMY) - 6-4, 6-2

6. Kamran Khan (SCU) def. Michael Sienko (ARMY) – 6-7(3) Unfinished

 

Order of finish: 5, 4, 2*

* - clinched victory

 

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