MEN’S TENNIS KNOCKS OFF BOTH PORTLAND AND PORTLAND STATE

2/22/2009

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Sacramento State men’s tennis team returns home after a successful Sunday, defeating both Portland and Portland State on the road within hours of each other.

The Hornets pulled out a gritty win against Portland Sunday morning (4-3) before capping off their day with a 7-0 win against Big Sky Conference rival Portland State to improve to 5-4 overall and 2-0 in league play.

With the loss, Portland had its eight-match winning streak snapped and dropped to 8-2. Portland State fell to 3-6 overall and 2-2 in the Big Sky.

The matchup against Portland was highlighted by a sweep in the doubles matches where the Hornets’ No. 1 tandem of junior Anton Stryhas and sophomore Kiryl Harbatsiuk defeated a pair of juniors Filip Zivkovic and Evan Schleining, 8-4. Artur Klimenka and Jason Smith was victorious at No. 2 (8-2), and Holden Ching and Marco Starcevic completed the sweep at No. 3 with a 8-5 win.

In singles play, after Portland’s Geoff Hernandez defeated Ching to tie the score at 1-1, the Hornets received victories from Harbatsiuk at No. 1 (6-3, 6-4), Stryhas at No. 2 (6-2, 6-3) and Starcevic (6-1, 6-2) at No. 5 to take a 4-1 lead and clinch the match. Portland won the final two singles matches to make the final score 4-3.

The Hornets then had to turn around and face host Portland State in a Big Sky match-up.

All three doubles teams won their matches to score the first point of the afternoon. Sacramento State then received straight set victories from Harbatsiuk (6-3, 6-1), Stryhas (6-2, 6-2), Ching (6-1, 6-2), Starcevic (6-4, 6-3), Klimenka (6-0, 6-3) and Jimmy Roberts (6-3, 6-0)

Including a 7-0 victory at Eastern Washington on Friday, the Hornets have now swept both Big Sky matches this season. They also have dropped just one set in singles play and have been victorious in all but one doubles match.

After a two-week break for Sacramento State, the team will make its home debut on March 8 against Saint Mary’s, followed by a doubleheader against Big Sky opponent Northern Arizona and UT-Arlington on March 14.

Sacramento State at Portland
Feb. 22, 2009 at Portland, Ore.
Sacramento State 4, Portland 3

Doubles
1. STRYHAS, Anton/HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. Filip Zivkovic/Evan Schleining (PORT) 8-4
2. CHING, Holden/STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. Bryan Thorp/Nikoloz Kurdadze (PORT) 8-5
3. KLIMENKA, Artur/SMITH, Jason (SAC) def. Nick Wales/Geoff Hernandez (PORT) 8-2

Singles
1. HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. Filip Zivkovic (PORT) 6-3, 6-4
2. STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) def. Bryan Thorp (PORT) 6-2, 6-3
3. Geoff Hernandez (PORT) def. CHING, Holden (SAC) 6-4, 6-2
4. Nikoloz Kurdadze (PORT) def. SMITH, Jason (SAC) 6-3, 6-2
5. STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. Evan Schleining (PORT) 6-1, 6-2
6. Nick Wales (PORT) def. KLIMENKA, Artur (SAC) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles order of finish: 3,1,2
Singles order of finish: 3,1,2,5,4,6

Sacramento State at Portland State
Feb. 22, 2009 at Portland, Ore.
Sacramento State 7, Portland State 0

Doubles
1. STRYHAS, Anton/HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. Chris Rice/Alex Hart (PSU) 8-3
2.CHING, Holden/STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. Jeff Cero/Alex VanDerschelden (PSU) 8-2
3. ROBERTS, Jimmy/KLIMENKA, Artur (SAC) def. Kyle Erickson/ Branislav Valach (PSU) 8-6

Singles
1. HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. Chris Rice (PSU) 6-3, 6-1
2. STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) def. Alex VanDerschelden (PSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. CHING, Holden (SAC) def. Kyle Erickson (PSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. STARCEVIC, Marko def. Jeff Cero (PSU) 6-4, 6-3
5. KLIMENKA, Artur (SAC) def. Branislav Valach (PSU) 6-0, 6-3
6. ROBERTS, Jimmy (SAC) def. Alex Hart (PSU) 6-3, 6-0

Doubles order of finish: 2,1,3
Singles order of finish: 3,1,2,5,4,6