MEN’S TENNIS DEFEATS BOTH UT ARLINGTON AND MONTANA STATE IN HOME DOUBLEHEADER

3/11/2011

Junior Javier Millan was victorious in straight sets in both his singles matches today

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State’s Kiryl Harbatsiuk, Jason Smith and Javier Millan were victorious in both their singles matches during the course of the day to help lead the Hornets to a pair of home victories Friday afternoon at Rio Del Oro Racquet Club.

Sacramento State began the day by defeating non-conference opponent UT Arlington, 4-2, before coming back later in the afternoon to knock off Big Sky Conference foe Montana State, 7-0. The Hornets improved to 6-8 overall and remain perfect in conference play with a 4-0 record. Northern Arizona (1-0) is the only other Big Sky team without a league loss.

Harbatsiuk, who is ranked 26th in the nation, dropped a combined six games over two matches, defeating his opponents at No. 1 by a 6-2, 6-2 score against UT Arlington, and a 6-1, 6-1 score against Montana State. Smith, who along with Harbatsiuk, are the two Hornets receiving a national ranking, is currently 106th in the country and dispatched of both his opponents as well. Millan won at No. 6 against UT Arlington’s Nicolas Moreno (6-2, 6-3), and at No. 5 over Montana State’s Markus Schleuter (6-4, 6-4).

The only negative about today’s doubleheader sweep for the Hornets was sophomore Aliaksandr Malko had to retire early in his match against UT Arlington (5-5) after twisting his ankle. He did not play against Montana State because of the injury, but Sacramento State still found a way to sweep a Montana State team (6-9, 2-1) that had yet to lose a conference match.

The Hornets won the doubles points in both matches handily as the 80th-ranked tandem of Harbatsiuk and Marko Starcevic posted an 8-3 win over UT Arlington, and 8-4 over Montana State.

Starcevic, freshman Josh Lorentzen and freshman Daniel Diaz also picked up a singles win during the day. Harbatsiuk has now won 12 straight singles matches while improving to 12-2 this season. In addition, Harbatsiuk and Starcevic have won five straight as a doubles tandem are now 8-1 this year.

The Hornets continue their season-long seven-match homestand on Monday when they host Nevada at 2 p.m. The two teams were supposed to play one another earlier this year, but the match was postponed because of rain.

Sacramento State 4, UT Arlington 2

Singles competition
1. #26 HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SACMEN) def. Mindaugas Celedinas (M-UTA) 6-2, 6-2
2. #106 SMITH, Jason (SACMEN) def. Lucas Leppen (M-UTA) 5-0, retired
3. Yauheni Yakauleu (M-UTA) def. MALKO, Aliaksandr (SACMEN) 3-1, retired
4. STARCEVIC, Marko (SACMEN) vs. Erik Hjertonsson (M-UTA) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
5. David Subirats (M-UTA) def. LORENTZEN, Josh (SACMEN) 6-1, 6-2
6. MILLAN, Javier (SACMEN) def. Nicolas Moreno (M-UTA) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. #80 HARBATSIUK, Kiryl/STARCEVIC, Marko (SACMEN) def. Mindaugas Celedinas/Yauheni Yakauleu (M-UTA) 8-3
2. SMITH, Jason/MALKO, Aliaksandr (SACMEN) def. Lucas Leppen/Brieuc Hamon (M-UTA) 8-4
3. Nicolas Moreno/David Subirats (M-UTA) def. LORENTZEN, Josh/DIAZ, Daniel (SACMEN) 8-3

Match Notes:
UT Arlington 5-5
Sacramento State 5-8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,3,1,5,6,4)


Sacramento State 7, Montana State 0

Singles competition
1. #26 HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SACMEN) def. Pawel Turzanski (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
2. #106 SMITH, Jason (SACMEN) def. Fletcher Keyes (MSU) 6-4, 3-6, 10-8
3. STARCEVIC, Marko (SACMEN) def. Alberto Fuentes (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
4. LORENTZEN, Josh (SACMEN) def. D. Campos Contreras (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
5. MILLAN, Javier (SACMEN) def. Markus Schleuter (MSU) 6-4, 6-4
6. DIAZ, Daniel (SACMEN) def. P. Sivasubramanium (MSU) 5-7, 6-4, 10-7

Doubles competition
1. #80 HARBATSIUK, Kiryl/STARCEVIC, Marko (SACMEN) def. Fletcher Keyes/Pawel Turzanski (MSU) 8-4
2. SMITH, Jason/MILLAN, Javier (SACMEN) def. D. Campos Contreras/Alberto Fuentes (MSU) 8-5
3. LORENTZEN, Josh/DIAZ, Daniel (SACMEN) def. Markus Schleuter/P. Sivasubramanium (MSU) 8-4

Match Notes:
Montana State 6-9, 2-1
Sacramento State 6-8, 4-0
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,3,4,5,2,6)