The No. 36 Santa Clara men's tennis program didn't waste any time building on the success of last season. With the highest preseason ranking in program history, the Broncos decisively handled UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz to finish the weekend 2-0.

"We got a good test from both teams today and my team stepped up to the challenge," said Santa Clara men's tennis head coach Derek Mills. "Now we will start to prepare for Michigan so we can bring our best to that match."

In the morning against UC Davis, the Broncos picked up where they left off with a 6-1 win over the Aggies, spoiling the debut of new Davis coach Eric Steidlmayer. Santa Clara junior John Lamble, the No. 65 player in the country, opened the season as the No. 1 singles player for the Broncos, defeating Toki Sherbakov 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. In the second spot, red-shirt senior and USC Trojan transfer Matt Kecki downed Kyle Miller 6-2, 6-4.

Ilya Osintsev fought hard but was bested by Parker Kelley 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, while seniors Tom Pham and Eugene Muchynski were straight-set winners in the fourth and fifth spots, respectively. Ashot Khacharyan, a freshman from Russia, took home his first victory with a 6-2, 7-5 win in his collegiate debut.

In doubles, Lamble and Osintsev combined for an 8-4 win with Lamble finishing the match with an emphatic ace. Khacharyan and Muchynski won 8-3 while Kecki and Pham were winning 6-3 when SCU clinched the doubles point.

In the afternoon dual match against UC Santa Cruz, Santa Clara breezed to a 7-0 final. Osintsev made his season debut as the No. 1 singles player topping Erich Koenig 6-1, 6-4. Kecki dispatched Andre Halabi 6-0, 6-2 and Pham took down Bryce Bettwy 6-2, 6-1. Muchynski bested Sam Rogers 6-4, 6-3 and Khacharyan picked up his second NCAA win with a 6-1, 7-6 defeat of Elias Scandalis.

Tomasz Soltyka, a freshman from Poland, tacked on another decisive win, 6-1, 6-4 over Max Littlejohn in his NCAA debut.

Lamble and Osintsev dominated again at No. 1 doubles, this time with an 8-2 win. Muchynski and Pham cruised 8-1 and freshman Khacharyan and Soltyka were winning 6-3 when SCU secured the doubles win.

The Broncos will travel to Berkeley, Calif. to participate in the ITA Kickoff Weekend next weekend, Jan. 25 and 26. The Broncos face No. 20 Michigan on Friday at 1 p.m. and either No. 14 Cal or No. 38 Boise State the following day with the opponent and time TBA.