MEN’S TENNIS HAS WINNING STREAK SNAPPED AT SANTA CLARA

4/15/2007

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Santa Clara won the doubles point, and was victorious in three of the six singles matches on the way to a 4-3 victory over Sacramento State in a non-conference men’s tennis match Sunday afternoon at the Degheri Tennis Center.

With the loss, the Hornets, who have just one remaining regular-season match on the schedule, dropped to 17-5 overall. After clinching the Causeway Cup for Sacramento State with a victory over UC Davis on Friday, the Hornets saw their five-game winning streak come to an end. The team has still won 13 of its last 15 matches after beginning the season with a 4-3 record.

With the victory, Santa Clara improved to 17-6 overall and 14-2 on its home courts. The Broncos are currently ranked 68th in the nation while the Hornets just fell out of the top 75 last week.

Santa Clara began the match by winning two of the three doubles matches to pick up the first point of the contest. The Broncos then received victories from Jay Wong (No. 3), Robert Gallman (No. 4) and Blane Shields (No. 5) to clinch the victory.

For Sacramento State, freshmen Xavier Barajas-Smith (No. 1; 6-2, 6-3), Anton Stryhas (No. 2; 6-1, 6-1) and Tim Lantin (No. 6; 5-7, 6-3, 7-6) were each victorious.

The Hornets will play their final non-conference match of the season on Saturday, April 21, when the team travels to UC Santa Barbara for a match at 1 p.m. Sacramento State has already locked up the No. 1 seed for the Big Sky Tournament, which will take place on April 27-29. The winner of the Big Sky Tournament received an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, a place the Hornets haven’t been since 2003.

No. 68 Santa Clara 4, Sacramento State 3

DOUBLES
1. Macek/Rasmussen (SCU) def. Loredo/Stryhas (SAC), 8-6
2. Gallman/Shields (SCU) def. Barajas-Smith/Hague Van Dillen (SAC), 8-5
3. Foy/Perez (SAC) def. Brogan/Wong (SCU), 8-4

SINGLES
1. Xavier Barajas-Smith (SAC) def. Jan Macek (SCU), 6-2, 6-3
2. Anton Stryhas (SAC) def. Brian Brogan (SCU), 6-1, 6-1
3. Jay Wong (SCU) def. Gabriel Loredo (SAC), 6-2, 6-2
4. Robert Gallman (SCU) def. Ramon Perez (SAC), 6-3, 7-5
5. Blane Shields (SCU) def. Warwick Foy (SAC), 6-4, 6-3
6. Tim Lantin (SAC) def. Kevin McQuaid (SCU), 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4)