MEN’S TENNIS BEATS UC DAVIS; SACRAMENTO STATE CLAIMS SECOND STRAIGHT CAUSEWAY CUP
4/13/2007
DAVIS, Calif. -- Senior Warwick Foy rallied for a three-set victory at No. 5 to clinch a 4-3 win for the Sacramento State men’s tennis team over UC Davis, Friday afternoon at the Marya Welch Tennis Center.
The victory for the Hornets was not only the team’s 17th win of the season, but also clinched the Causeway Cup championship for Sacramento State. In its third year of existence, the Causeway Cup is an all-sports competition between Sacramento State and UC Davis. The Hornets now lead in the Cup standings, 52.66-50.34. With just a pair of baseball games remaining between the two teams (both worth one point each), Sacramento State has already accumulated enough points to claim its second consecutive Causeway Cup title.
The two schools began battling for the Causeway Cup in 2004-05, and Sacramento State handily won the competition last year, 66.25-38.75. UC Davis won the Cup championship in 2004-05. For this year’s complete Cup standings, click here.
Sacramento State opened the match by winning the doubles point. The Aggies struck first with an 8-5 win at No. 3 from Michael Reiser and Simon Cheng over Ramon Perez and Foy. The Hornets tied it up at 1-1 with a 9-7 win from Xavier Barajas-Smith and Hague Van Dillen against Henri Landes and Casey McMakin. The Aggies looked as if they would win the doubles point but Anton Stryhas and Gabriel Loredo overcame a 5-2 deficit to defeat Michael Chin and Justin Garcia, 9-7, at No. 1.
The Hornets built on that victory with two quick wins that the top of the ladder. Barajas-Smith blew past Reiser, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 1 and Stryhas downed Chin, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 2 to give Sacramento State a 3-0 lead. The Aggies bounced back with a win at No. 4, from Garcia who defeated Perez, 7-5, 6-2.
The remaining three matches went three sets. Sacramento State fell down a break in two of those matches but Loredo surged ahead 3-0 in his battle against Jayce Fitch at No. 3. Cheng made the score, 3-2, when he finished off Tim Lantin, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 6.
Battling cramps, Loredo saw his lead evaporate and Foy fell behind Kevin Liang, 4-3. But is was Foy who saved the day for the Hornets, winning the final three games of the match for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. Fitch eventually defeated Loredo, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).
With the victory, the Sacramento State men’s tennis team improved to 17-4. The team has now won five in a row and 13 of the last 14 overall. Using a lineup that consists of three freshmen and three seniors for the majority of the season, Sacramento State’s 17-4 record is the team’s best mark after 21 matches since the 2001 squad was 19-2.
The Hornets have now defeated UC Davis four times in the last five years with the team’s only setback during that stretch occurring last year. Sacramento State, which has already claimed the Big Sky Tournament’s No. 1 seed by virtue of a perfect 7-0 conference record, has just two more regular-season matches on the schedule before the league tournament begins on April 27.
With the loss, UC Davis dropped to 5-13, including a 5-4 record at home.
MEN’S TENNIS: Sacramento State 4, UC Davis 3
DOUBLES
No. 1 - Anton Stryhas/Gabriel Loredo (SAC) def. Michael Chin/Justin Garcia (UCD), 9-7
No. 2 - Xavier Barajas-Smith/Hague Van Dillen (SAC) def. Henri Landes/Casey McMakin (UCD), 9-7
No. 3 - Michael Reiser/Simon Cheng (UCD) def. Ramon Perez/Warwick Foy (SAC), 8-5
DAVIS, Calif. --
