Posted: Jan 29, 2020
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's tennis hit the road once again this weekend, this time to the Pacific Northwest to face Oregon on Saturday and Portland State on Sunday. First serve is at noon on Saturday and at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
"It's good experience, especially for the freshmen to get used to playing on the road. A lot of times you have to be maybe 10, 15 percent better than your opponent when you are playing away," said Broncos head coach Niall Angus of playing on the road for the third straight weekend.
The Broncos (1-3) are coming off a split at last weekend's ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Los Angeles when they knocked off UC Santa Barbara, 4-3, in the first match of the regionals before falling to No. 3 USC, 4-0. In the win against the Gauchos, freshman Nick Cmager came through with the match-clincher to give Santa Clara their first win of the spring.
"Nick and the other freshman Mann Shah really stepped up," said Angus. "After his first match where I think he got the nerves out, Mann has been phenomenal for us, both beating a very good, experienced UC Santa Barbara player and also in a winning position against USC which is the third best team in the country. And Nick with his first win at Santa Clara, able to clinch at three-all from match point down, those experiences only get you stronger and he's learned a lot from that match in what he's capable of."
Saturday's opponent Oregon (4-2) also faced UC Santa Barbara back on Jan. 18, sweeping the Gauchos 4-0. The Ducks feature the No. 14-ranked singles player in Joshua Charlton who teams up with Ty Gentry to compose the No. 8-ranked doubles team in the nation.
Portland State (0-2) will be seeking their first win of the spring on Sunday having lost the first two against Oregon and West Coast Conference's Portland.