Feb. 13, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's tennis team will host two top California programs this weekend. The Broncos will take on the UC Davis Aggies on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 1 p.m., and face off against No. 60 UC Santa Barbara on Monday, Feb. 16 at noon.
The Broncos were scheduled to kick off the WCC dual season earlier this week at University of San Francisco, but due to inclement weather the match was postponed. The match is set to be rescheduled for April, but the date has yet to be confirmed. Santa Clara has not played a match since its season opener on Jan. 31, versus UC Santa Cruz, where the Broncos dominated, winning 6-1. Junior Jay Wong, senior Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong and freshman Kyle Dandan helped lead SCU to a strong first victory.
With two weeks to prepare since their last match, SCU is heading into an action packed weekend hoping to extend its success.
Scouting UC Davis
Santa Clara hosted UCD on Jan. 19, 2008 to open the year's dual season. In a hard fought match, the Broncos fell to the Aggies, 4-1. Junior Jay Wong tallied the one point for SCU in a singles win against current Davis senior Michael Reiser, defeating him 6-1, 6-4.
"They beat us last year at home, so this is an opportunity to avenge for that loss. Santa Clara and Davis are both pretty equally matched teams, so it's going to be a tough match that will come down to who wants to win more," said head coach Derek Mills.
Scouting UC Santa Barbara
No. 60 UCSB has a fleet of experienced returning players, including juniors Philip Terp, Josh Finkelstein and Scott Hohenstein, who have had strong performances in singles play this dual season. The Gauchos, 1-4, will face UC Berkeley and UC Davis before coming to Santa Clara on Monday. Santa Barbara will go into this road trip after losing to No. 40 New Mexico, 7-0, on Feb. 7.
"Marty Davis always has a really good team. This is an experienced Santa Barbara team and it is going to be a great challenge for our guys. We want to defend our home court," commented Mills.