SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Looking to increase its winning streak to three matches, the Santa Clara men's tennis team hosts No. 66 Fresno State University Saturday at 2 p.m. in Degheri Tennis Center (rescheduled from noon: Men's Tennis Match Start Time Moved to 2 p.m).
Last season, the Broncos responded from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Bulldogs by a score of 4-3 in mid-February. During the Coach Mills era, Santa Clara is 2-4 against Fresno State but has captured two consecutive victories in the last two contests. Since the 2000-2001 season, the Bulldogs have held the Broncos in check, winning 11 out of 13 meetings.
"Fresno State is always a challenging match," said Head Coach Derek Mills. "Last year was a great come-from-behind win for us and we need to perform at an even higher level this year to come out on top."
The Broncos
Santa Clara enters Saturday's matchup fresh off of two 7-0 sweeps against Sonoma State University and Holy Names University utilizing the same roster rotation in both singles and doubles.
Playing No. 1 singles, Ashot Khacharyan has two consecutive straight set victories this season, dropping just five points in the process. Last year, the then Santa Clara junior drubbed Fresno State's Euan McIntosh 6-2, 6-3. Wearing the red and white, Khacharyan is 2-0 against Bulldog competitors.
Over on Court 2, freshman Robert Seby jumped over the .500 mark after downing Matthew Halligan from Holy Names 6-3, 6-1 to secure his fourth victory this year. His freshman teammate, Andrew Gu, also grabbed his fourth victory of the year against Holy Names, overcoming Hugo Colpart 7-6, 6-2 on Court 3.
The No. 4 singles position belongs to Santa Clara's singles leader Connor Garnett. Leading the squad with five victories, the Bellevue, Wash. native cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Bernardo Moraes from Holy Names on Sunday.
Closing out Santa Clara's singles rotation, Kamran Khan and Sebastien Mathieu are both 2-0 in dual match play after coming away with straight set victories to start off spring play.
In doubles, Santa Clara's No. 1 team is headlined by Khacharyan and Gu. Complimenting each other's playing styles, the duo is off to a 2-0 start after 6-1 and 6-4 results to start the season. Holding identical records and scores, the No. 2 doubles tandem of Seby and Garnett is also off to an undefeated start to 2016.
Fresno State
Coming in at No. 66 in the national rankings, Fresno State is off to a 1-1 start to the season after falling to No. 5 Texas A&M University but responding to defeat No. 65 University of San Francisco just a day later.
Leading the Bulldogs at the No. 1 singles spot, McIntosh is off to an 0-1 start to the dual match season after leaving a match against the Aggies unfinished and fallings to USF's Nils Skajaa 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday. During fall play, the senior finished with a 3-5 mark.
Behind McIntosh, Nikolas Papic carries the load at the No. 2 spot. The upperclassman is 1-0 to start the dual match season after a highly competitive match against the Dons, a match that would end 7-6(7-3), 6-7(4-7), 6-3 in Papic's favor. Like McIntosh, Papic struggled in fall play, collecting just two wins in eight matches.
Competing at the No. 3 and No. 4 singles spots, Yousseff Hassan and Mantas Bugailiskis are winless to start 2016, having dropped both their matches in straight set fashion to the Aggies and Dons.
Rounding out Fresno State's singles lineup, Jeremy Moser and Patrick Pech hold down the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively. Moser comes in at 1-0 on the year while Pech sits even with a 1-1 record.
In doubles, the Bulldogs are lead by their No. 1 pairing of Bugailiskis and McIntosh. The freshman-junior tandem is 1-0 on the year after defeating San Francisco's duo of Skajaa and Vasco Valverde 7-6(10-8). Fresno State's No. 2 duo made up of Moser and Papic is 1-1 on the season while Pech and Hassan, the No. 3 duo, is winless at 0-2.
Parking & Admission: Admission is free to Degheri Tennis Center. Parking is available in either the Leavey Center lot or the main campus parking structure. Click here for a campus parking map.
