Jan. 31, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's tennis team started the 2009 dual season with a bang, defeating UC Santa Cruz 6-1. The Broncos outplayed the Banana Slugs on both doubles and singles sides of play, with notable performances from junior Jay Wong and senior Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong. In their dual season debut, freshman Kyle Dandan and sophomore transfer Hugo Taricido Loureiro made an immediate impact for the Broncos.
SCU came out strong from the start, grabbing two decisive doubles wins to earn the first point of the match. Returning veterans Jay Wong and Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong took on two of UCSC's strongest players in Max Liberty-Point and Ilya Grendelman, defeating the pair 8-6. In the number 2 doubles position, Kyle Dandan and Hugo Taricido made their debut for Santa Clara defeating Santa Cruz's Ryan Sass and Mark Vartabedian 8-4 to take the doubles point.
UCSC made the Broncos fight hard for their five singles victories. In the number 1 position, Jay Wong outplayed Max Liberty-Point in two sets coming out with a strong 6-3, 6-2 win. Newcomers Taricido, in the number 2 position, and Dandan, playing the number 3 spot, made a significant contribution for Santa Clara with their tough singles play. Taricido clinched an exciting match against Ilya Gendelman winning a super tiebreaker set 11-9. Hirakawa-Wong and red shirt junior Tommy Hicks also came away with singles victories for the Broncos.
SCU will have an ten-day break to prepare for their next match at the University of San Francisco. The Broncos travel to take on the Dons in a West Coast Conference match on February 11. The match is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.
Doubles:
1. SCU Jay Wong / Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong def. UCSC Max Liberty-Point/ Ilya Grendelman 8-6
2. SCU Kyle Dandan / Hugo Taricido Loureiro def. UCSC Ryan Sass/ Mark Vartabedian 8-4
3. UCSC Max Ortiz/ Colin Mark-Griffin def. SCU Tommy Hicks / Charlie Burke 8-4
Singles:
1. SCU Jay Wong def. UCSC Liberty-Point (6-3, 6-2)
2. SCU Hugo Taricido Loureiro def. UCSC Gendelman (6-7, 6-0, 11-9)
3. SCU Kyle Dandan def. UCSC Ortiz (6-4, 6-0)
4. SCU Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong def. UCSC Mark-Griffin (1-6, 6-3, 6-2)
5. SCU Tommy Hicks def. UCSC Chiba (6-3, 6-1)
6. UCSC Vartabedian def. SCU Charlie Burke (6-1, 6-1)