SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's tennis kicks off their spring season on the road with a pair of West Coast Conference matches against Pepperdine on Saturday and LMU on Sunday.  

 

"Playing against two conference opponents to open the dual match season will give us a chance early in the year to see exactly where we are at," said Broncos head coach Niall Angus.  "Pepperdine and LMU are two of the better teams in the conference this year.  So playing them early in the season when we've already done a lot of work preparing I think is a good thing for us."

 

The Broncos will be led by a pair of seniors in Jesus Tapiador Barajas and Vasileios Iliopoulos.  They are the only upperclassmen on the eight member squad with the remainder comprised of sophomores Santiago Hinojosa and Arthur Neuhaus, along with four freshmen - Ryan Ali, Nick Cmager, Matthew Rodriguez and Mann Shah who enrolled this month in time for the spring season.  

 

"Mann has exceeded all expectations up to this point.  It's very difficult to come in mid-year and get used to school from another country but I think he's done well embracing the college culture and getting to know his teammates and already being an extended piece of this team," said Angus about the freshman from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.  

 

In the fall, Tapiador Barajas led the team with six singles wins while Neuhaus posted a team-best 9-2 doubles record including going 7-1 with partner Vasileios Iliopoulos.  

 

"The team is healthy, which is the most important thing," said Angus.  "The team is close and very tight so it's going to be a fun year.  It's always a little unpredictable when you are young but I think the talent is there.  It's about getting the experience now."