MALIBU, Calif. – Facing its ninth ranked opponent of the season on Friday, the Santa Clara men's tennis team could not string together an upset, falling 4-0 at the hands of No. 61 Pepperdine University.
The Waves controlled the Broncos from start to finish, storming out to a victory in the doubles point before capturing three-consecutive singles wins. Santa Clara was only able to win eight games in its three singles losses.
"Tough loss to a solid team," said Head Coach Derek Mills. "We just have to have a short memory and get ready for LMU tomorrow."
The Waves handled the doubles point with ease, rolling to a 6-1 victory on Court 3 before grabbing a 6-3 clincher on Court 2.
Jack Van Slyke took six games out of seven in the first set competing against Sebastien Mathieu and then finished off Santa Clara's No. 4 competitor by the same 6-1 score in the second frame. With the loss, Mathieu's slide reaches 10 matches.
Wins continued to pour in over in singles action as Stefan Menichella scored a 6-0, 6-3 decision against Jeffrey Liang, the freshman's fourth singles dual match first all year and first competitive singles match in nearly a month.
Pepperdine capped the sweep courtesy of Pedro Iamachkine's 6-1, 6-2 victory over Connor Garnett on Court 3, prolonging the Santa Clara freshman's slide to three matches.
The lone bright spot for the Broncos came from Robert Seby. Competing against Pepperdine's Lautaro Pane, the Waves' team-leader with 20 wins, Seby cruised to a 6-2 decision in the first set and had a 4-2 advantage in the second frame before the match was called.
Santa Clara returns to action tomorrow afternoon at noon against Loyola Marymount University.
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