March 2, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's tennis team, (2-2), will travel to face two of the nation's top tennis programs this week locally. On Wed., Mar. 4, the Broncos head to Stanford (10-1) to take on the No. 5 Cardinal. Then SCU is back in action on Fri., Mar. 6, to kick off the West Coast Conference dual season as they travel to Moraga, Calif. to face No. 66 Saint Mary's (4-8).
Santa Clara's last encounter with Stanford was in the 2007 dual season in a match that came down to the wire. The thrilling match between then No. 67 SCU and No. 60 Stanford came down to a final singles match between Santa Clara's Tommy Hicks and David Ryan of Stanford. Despite an outstanding effort from Hicks, Ryan came away with the victory and the Broncos fell, 4-3.
Stanford is coming off of two wins this past weekend against No. 7 UCLA and No. 4 USC. The Cardinal take on BYU today, Mar. 2.
Last season versus Saint Mary's the Broncos dropped the decision, 6-1. Senior Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong grabbed a singles win at the No. 4 singles position versus SMC's Achim Christner to give Santa Clara a point. SCU is eager to finally begin WCC dual play after matches with San Francisco and Gonzaga were postponed due to inclement weather.
Saint Mary's has won three straight matches with wins versus San Francisco, Loyola Marymount, and UC Davis. The Gael's played Pacific on Sunday, Mar. 1, and have the week to prepare for Friday's match up.