April 16, 2005

Photo Gallery

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara University senior Francisco Zepponi celebrated Senior Day by setting a program best for career singles victories in leading the Bronco men's tennis team to a 4-3 victory over Sacramento State this evening at the Degheri Tennis Center. The Broncos improve to 12-9 overall to close the 2005 home schedule. The Hornets have now lost seven straight, as their record moves to 8-13.

Francisco Zepponi (right) now has the most singles career wins in program history, surpassing former teammate Erich Chen.

Zepponi recorded his 13th dual match victory of the season with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Peter Farkas at No. 4 singles. Zepponi now has 73 career singles wins to set the new program mark, topping former teammate and current assistant coach Erich Chen.

Sacramento State earned the afternoon's first point, clinching doubles play with a 9-7 victory by Peter Farkas and Junaid Hossain at the top doubles slot.

In singles action, Eric Kochanski and Jan Macek finished within seconds of each other to put the Broncos ahead 2-1. Zepponi followed with his historic win, and freshman A.J. Kerin clinched the team victory at No .6 singles.

The Hornets earned their singles points with a 6-2, 6-2 win by Joakim Rydberg at the top slot and with a super-tiebreak victory on the fifth singles court.

"This was a great fight day for our program," head coach George Husack said. "These matches were physical and mental tests to see where we are in preparation for next week. These guys earned their successes today."

Santa Clara will return to action on Tuesday, with a contest at nationally-ranked Stanford that was postponed from last month due to rainy weather. First serve is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Palo Alto. SCU will then look forward to the West Coast Conference Championship, held next Friday through Sunday. The event is hosted by Pepperdine University in Malibu. Seedings for the tournament will be announced early next week.

The 2005 Senior Class... Taylor Bedilion, Francisco Zepponi, Benny Hidalgo and Eric Kochanski, as well as team manager Stephan Vernaelde.

The Broncos honored its senior class of four prior to the start of the match: Taylor Bedilion, Ben Hidalgo, Kochanski and Zepponi.

"Senior Day is always an emotional event and I'm really proud of what this group has accomplished," Husack said. "Francisco winning a pair today to set the record... Eric continuing to provide solid play... Benny keeping us on our toes with his fire... and it's just nice to have Taylor getting healthier every day."

Doubles
1. Farkas/Junaid Hossain (SAC) def. Kochanski/Rasmussen (SCU) 9-7
2. Zepponi/Bedilion (SCU) def. Perez/Foy (SAC) 8-5
3. Rydberg/Morton (SAC) def. Ben Hidalgo / Chris Iwamura (SCU) 8-3

Singles
1. Joakim Rydberg (SAC) def. Taylor Bedilion (SCU) 6-2, 6-2
2. Jan Macek (SCU) def. Thomas Morton (SAC) 6-2, 6-3
3. Eric Kochanski (SCU) def. Warwick Foy (SAC) 6-2, 6-2
4. Francisco Zepponi (SCU) def. Peter Farkas (SAC) 6-3, 6-2
5. Ramon Perez (SAC) def. Bobby Rasmussen (SCU) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8)
6. A.J. Kerin (SCU) def. Michael Thomsen (SAC) 6-3, 6-0