SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The No. 67 Bronco men's tennis team, fresh off the news that it had climbed back into the national rankings, took home a big win over No. 55 Tulane. The Broncos bested the Green Wave behind four determined singles wins, including two come-from-behind, three set victories. Santa Clara's roster returned to full strength after missing several starters the past four weeks.

Santa Clara faces LMU on Friday, March 29 at 11 am on the Mission campus. The Broncos will host No. 11 Pepperdine in a key WCC showdown on Sat., March 30 at 12 pm.

"I thought my team really came through against a very good Tulane team," said Bronco head coach Derek Mills. "It was awesome to see the guys come back after losing the doubles point and grind out some three set wins to clinch the match."

Tulane took the early 1-0 lead by winning two of three doubles matches. John Lamble and Tom Pham were 8-5 winners in the second position. The Broncos had lost three straight matches when losing the doubles point but they made sure that was not the case Tuesday.

In the singles portion, Santa Clara's Pham came out firing on all cylinders, showing no mercy in a 6-1, 6-2 drubbing at No. 5. Pham extended his win streak to six matches and is 19-6 overall. Eugene Muchynski, who returned to the lineup after five weeks away, dug deep for the 7-6 first set win and cruised 6-1 in the second.  

Despite Santa Clara's 2-1 advantage, Tulane refused to surrender. Matt Kecki took the first set at No. 4, but Tulane rallied and triumphed 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was Kecki's first match in five weeks as well. No. 63 John Lamble, riding a nine match win streak, faced 14-1 Dominik Koepfer in the top spot. Lamble pulled out the first set in a tiebreaker, but cramps derailed his attempt at 10 consecutive wins.

Down 3-2, the Broncos' backs were against the wall, but they hung tough and played their best when it counted. Ashot Khacharyan proved his resiliency and determination, overcoming early struggles to win a tight second set tiebreaker while controlling the final set. Khacharyan's 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 final boosted his record to 14-2 with wins in 12 of his past 13 matches.

Ilya Osintsev also found himself down a set but he too was able to rally, decisively downing his opponent 6-4 and 6-2 in the final sets. It was Osintsev's first win in over a month, as he dealt with a severe illness that sidelined him for multiple weeks.