Men’s Tennis to Host Portland and Gonzaga

Jesus Tapiador Barajas

Posted: Mar 23, 2017

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's tennis resumes West Coast Conference action this weekend as it hosts Portland on Saturday at noon PT and Gonzaga on Sunday at 9 a.m. PT. The matches will take place at Degheri Tennis Center.

"(I'm hoping to see) a continuation of what we been putting into play in our most recent matches," head coach Niall Angus said. "We've got to continuing week in and week out to put the grind in on the practice court as well as the match court. That's the reason why we've had some success so far, is the effort we've put in."

The Broncos moved to 10-2 (0-1 WCC) on the year with two wins last week over Army on March 15 by a score of 6-1 and a 4-3 win against Fresno State on March 18. Their first loss of the year was at Tulane (Feb. 5), the No. 30 team in latest Division I Men's National Team Oracle/ITA Collegiate Rankings. The second loss came at BYU in the league-opening match when they fell 4-2. That defeat snapped a four-match winning streak for the squad.

SCU won the doubles point in its last two matches, a point of focus for Angus. Overall, the Broncos have lost the doubles point six times this year and come back to win the match on four occasions.

"We've done a lot better in the doubles point so I'm hoping to keep that momentum that we've got," Angus said.

Sophomore Robert Seby boasts a 7-4 singles record in dual match play with each match coming on court one. Sophomore Andrew Gu is 9-2 playing on court two and has won seven of his last 10 matches including six in a row. Sophomore Connor Garnett has gone 9-1 in his last 10 matches and is 11-1 on court three in dual match play. The trio has combined for a 27-7 record in singles play.

Head coach Niall Angus on the upcoming matches this weekend against WCC foes Portland and Gonzaga. #StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/KKbem76d48
— SCU Men's Tennis (@SCUMTennis) March 20, 2017

Freshman Jesus Tapiador Barajas owns a 5-5 record on court four for SCU. Freshman Vasileios Iliopoulos is 7-3 in match play (1-0 on court four and 6-3 on court five), including the clinching win for the Broncos at LSU (Feb. 3). Kamran Khan is 1-0 on court five this year and 5-2 on court six.

Portland is 10-1 on the year and will play its first two league matches this weekend at San Francisco on March 24 and at Santa Clara. Michail Pervolarakis is the No. 97 ranked singles player in the country and is 10-1 on court one for the Pilots. Teammate Mathieu Garcia is also 10-1 for the Pilots on court two.

"For the guys it's just another match," Angus said. "We compete as hard as we can no matter what the match, no matter where we are, no matter what the score is. That's a habit that we've formed and it's one we hope to continue."

Gonzaga boasts a 6-4 record and is also 0-0 in league play heading into this weekend to face USF and SCU. The Bulldogs have won four of their last five matches. Ruadhan O'Sullivan is 5-5 for the Bulldogs on court one while Vincent Rettke is 6-3 on court two and Sam Feit is 5-3 on court three.

PARKING: On weekdays, parking on campus will be subject to normal daily rates or restrictions, including the main structure, located on Palm Drive. During the weekend, campus parking facilities are free (except for permit required locations). Click here for a campus map and parking restrictions. Please note the Leavey Center lot will be unavailable for Saturday's match due to Lam Research Heart and Soles race. The main parking structure or the Guadalupe lot will be the best options on Saturday.