SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Returning to its home courts, the Santa Clara men's tennis team is set to host Loyola Marymount University and Pepperdine University beginning tomorrow and continuing into the weekend. The Broncos will look to capture their first West Coast Conference victory when they challenge the Lions from LMU at 1:00 p.m. on Friday before facing the No. 41 ranked Waves from Pepperdine at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Last season, the Broncos were blanked by LMU and Pepperdine 4-0 during back-to-back matches in Southern California. However, Santa Clara owns an 8-4 record against the Lions dating back to 2005. During that same time period, the Broncos have never knocked off the high-powered Waves.

The Broncos

Santa Clara enters this weekend's matches with a 5-9 record overall after falling in its previous two matches on the road last weekend. Despite the road woes, the Broncos are 4-2 competing at the Degheri Tennis Center.

In the past three matches, senior Ilya Osintsev has taken over as the squad's No. 1 singles position. After two unfinished results in San Diego, Calif. over the weekend, the lefty's record remains at 10-5 on the year and 8-2 in dual match play. Osintsev is 2-0 in his career against LMU opponents with one match left unfinished and an even 1-1 with one unfinished match against Pepperdine.

At the No. 2 singles position, the Broncos are powered by Ashot Khacharyan and his team-best 14 singles victories. The junior also did not finish his singles matches this past weekend. Last year, Khacharyan fell to his LMU opponent and did not finish his match against Pepperdine the following afternoon.

Senior Sam Bertram has filled in the No. 3 singles position in recent time due to an injury to sophomore Mikheil Khmiadashvili and has posted a 1-1 record at that spot. The Aussie will look to avenge a loss suffered last year at the hands of Pepperdine.

Santa Clara's final three singles competitors will look to get back on track this weekend after coming away empty handed in the last two matches down in Southern California.

In doubles, Osintsev and Bertram have taken over the top spot for the Broncos and currently sit at 5-4 on the season. Despite challenging the No. 65 ranked doubles team from San Diego State University last weekend, the Bronco pairing came up just short in the end. However, following a defeat this season, the senior tandem is 2-1.

Loyola Marymount

The Lions will arrive on the Mission Campus boasting a 9-8 record overall and a mark of 1-4 in conference action, just one spot ahead of Santa Clara in the conference standings. LMU is 1-6 on the road this season.

In its last outing, LMU overcame Brigham Young University in a tight 4-3 finish to break a two-match losing skid. Before those two losses, the Lions had rattled off six consecutive victories, including a victory over then-No. 61 Cal Poly.

At the No. 1 singles position, Charles Boyce leads the way for the Lions. The 6-foot, 1-inch sophomore is 5-4 on the year at that spot but has lost two matches in a row as of late. Errol Smith, a 6-foot, 6-inch freshman has split time with Boyce at that top spot but recently played at the No. 2 position against BYU. Smith downed Shane Monroe in three sets to improve his record to 5-4 in the second spot in LMU's lineup.

The No. 3 spot has been primarily handled by Felix Van Kann. The senior is 11-10 overall but has dropped three consecutive matches. Cristobal Rivera, boasting a team-high 12 victories, has played No. 4 singles as of late and has tallied a 7-5 record at that position. He dropped Jacob Sullivan from BYU 6-4, 6-2 in his last match.

Seven different Lions have shared duties in the final two spots of the singles lineup, combining for 18 wins and 15 losses. Joat Farah leads the charge with a 7-3 mark at the No. 5 position.

The Lions have featured a number of pairings in doubles play this season, including seven different tandems at the No. 1 position. Against BYU, Todd Volmari and Farah competed for the first time together but fell 6-2 to the Cougars. Boyce and Rivera have consistently taken control of the No. 2 doubles spot, claiming nine wins on the season to date. In the final spot, Van Kann and Othar Kordsachia have posted a near-perfect mark of 5-1 and are currently riding a four match winning streak.

Pepperdine

The Waves, the No. 4 team in the conference standings, travel to Northern California this weekend with a record of 11-8 overall and 3-2 in the WCC. Before making the journey to Santa Clara, the Waves will head to the city by the bay to challenge the Dons from the University of San Francisco on Saturday.

Pepperdine is 2-3 while competing on the road but is 2-1 in its last week of action, taking down the University of Washington and BYU but most recently falling to the University of San Diego 4-1 on Wednesday.

Guilherme Hadlich has taken over responsibility at the No. 1 singles spot in the last three matches and is a perfect 3-0 this while competing at that position. Stefan Menichella, a 6-foot, 5-inch sophomore has now been competing at the No. 2 spot at a result of Hadlich's success. Menichella is 12-15 this season and just 1-4 in the second spot in Pepperdine's lineup. Rakshay Thakkar is tied with a team-high 13 victories under his belt but has a sub-.500 mark of 6-9 at the No. 3 singles spot where he primarily competes.

Pepperdine's strongest singles position based on record is the No. 6 spot. Three different Wave competitors have combined to post a 12-2 record this season. Luca Marquard has provided the wins as of late, tallying four consecutive victories at that spot.

In doubles, Hadlich and Thakkar are 8-6 on the year and 6-5 in dual match play playing at the No. 1 spot. Statistically, the No. 2 position is Pepperdine's weakest area in doubles play. Seven different tandems have paired up at that spot but have combined for just six wins to go along with 12 defeats. Lautaro Pane and Marquad have picked up the slack on Court 3 with their 5-1 record. The freshman duo recently took care of business against San Diego's No. 3 pairing.