MEN’S TENNIS PICKS UP FIRST WIN OF SEASON, WINS AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT, 7-0

1/25/2009

LOS ANGELES -- Sacramento State received singles victories from Anton Stryhas, Kiryl Harbatsiuk, Holden Ching, Jason Smith, Marko Starcevic and Jimmy Roberts on the way to a 7-0 blanking of Loyola Marymount Sunday afternoon at the LMU Tennis Center.

With the victory, the Hornets, who fell to sixth-ranked USC yesterday, improved to 1-1 on the young season. Sacramento State was playing its third match in as many days as the team was engaged in a tightly contested contest Friday afternoon at UC Riverside before it was cancelled due to rain.

Loyola Marymount, which opened its season with a loss to USC, dropped to 0-2 with today’s defeat.

The Hornets began the match by picking up the doubles points as the tandems of Stryhas/Harbatsiuk (No. 1), Ching/Starcevic (No. 2) and Roberts/Smith (No. 3) each won their matches by the scores of 8-2, 8-4 and 8-5, respectively.

In singles play, Smith gave the Hornets a 2-0 lead after defeating Renzo Maggi in the No. 4 spot, 6-2, 6-2. Ching won his match at No. 3 over Geza Bazula by the score of 2-6, 6-0, 6-4. Starcevic (7-5, 6-4) and Stryhas (6-3, 6-3) won their matches in straight sets to clinch the victory and give Sacramento State a 5-0 lead.

Roberts added the team’s sixth point when he defeated Aris Andresian in the No. 6 spot by the score of 7-6, (6), 2-6 and 10-7 in the super tiebreaker. Harbatsiuk completed the sweep with a 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-3 victory over Ivan Lopez at No. 2.

Sacramento State returns to action when the team plays for the fourth time in five days on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 12th-ranked Stanford. After the Stanford match, the Hornets do not play again until Feb. 6.

Sacramento State 7, Loyola Marymount 0
Jan 25, 2009 at Los Angeles, Calif. (LMU Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) def. Aram Abgaryan (LMU) 6-3, 6-3
2. HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. Ivan Lopez (LMU) 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (10-3)
3. CHING, Holden (SAC) def. Geza Bazula (LMU) 2-6, 6-0, 6-4
4. SMITH, Jason (SAC) def. Renzo Maggi (LMU) 6-2, 6-2
5. STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. Johan Berhof (LMU) 7-5, 6-4
6. ROBERTS, Jimmy (SAC) def. Aris Andresian (LMU) 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 1-0 (10-7)

Doubles competition
1. STRYHAS, Anton/HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. Geza Bazula/Aris Andresian (LMU) 8-2
2. CHING, Holden/STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. Ivan Lopez/Renzo Maggi (LMU) 8-4
3. ROBERTS, Jimmy/SMITH, Jason (SAC) def. Borja Malet/Nick Von Der Ahe (LMU) 8-5

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