MEN'S TENNIS DOWNS MONTANA STATE, FALLS TO UTAH STATE ON SATURDAY

2/27/2010

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Led by a sweep of the doubles matches and four singles victories, the Sacramento State men's tennis team defeated Montana State, 5-2, Saturday morning at the Anderson Bobcat Tennis Center. The Hornets returned to action in the afternoon and fell to Utah State, 4-3.

Sacramento State ended the day 4-5 overall and 3-1 in Big Sky Conference matches. The Bobcats dropped to 3-10 overall and 0-4 in league action. Utah State moved to 7-4 overall.

In the first match, Sacramento State picked up the first point of the match after it won all three doubles contests. The No. 1 team of Kiryl Harbatsiuk and Anton Stryhas won 8-6 over Fletcher Keyes and Alberto Fuentes for the first win. The duo were followed by Joe DeGuzman and Marko Starcevic's 8-6 win at No. 3 which clinched the point. The final match came at No. 2 and saw Jason Smith and Holden Ching outlast Corey Smith and Pawel Turzanski, 9-8 (12-10).

In singles play, Harbatsiuk extended the team's lead to 2-0 after he defeated Keyes, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 2. The senior is now 7-1 on the season with his only loss coming to Stanford. Stryhas then added a 6-4, 6-2, win at No. 1 over Turzanski. The clinching point came from Jason Smith at No. 3 where he overcame a first-set loss to down Corey Smith, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Down 4-0, MSU narrowed its gap by winning two of the final three singles matches. Alberto Fuentes knocked off Starcevic, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 4 for the Bobcats' first victory. Sacramento State answered back with a 7-6 (9-7), 6-2, win from Holden Ching at No. 5. The No. 6 match was decided by a super tie-break and saw Perkins defeat DeGuzman, 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8).

After a brief rest, the Hornets started the match with singles play against Utah State. However, the two teams spilt the six matches, forcing doubles to be contested. The Hornets and Aggies traded victories throughout singles play and both teams had a chance to seal the match with wins at Nos. 1 and 5. Instead, Ching won 7-6, 6-4, at No. 5 for Sacramento State and Jakob Asplund upended Styrhas, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, at No. 1 to keep the match tied.

Earlier in singles play, Smith and Harbatsiuk both won in straight sets. Harbatsiuk defeated Sven Poslusny, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 2 and Smith won 6-3, 6-4, over Bryan Merchant at No. 3.

Utah State held on to seal the match with two wins in the three doubles matches. Smith and Ching teammed for Sacramento State's lone win with an 8-2 decision at No. 2. Asplund and Marchant defeated Stryhas and Harbatsiuk, 8-6, at No. 1 and Nikita Ryashchenko and Alex Thatcher topped Marko Starcevic and Jimmy Roberts, 8-5, at No. 3.

The Hornets return to action on March 5 for two more matches. Sacramento State will first play at Northern Colorado at 11 a.m. before travelling to nearby Denver for a 5 p.m. contest against the Pioneers.

Sacramento State 5, Montana State 2
Singles competition
1. STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) def. TURZANSKI, Pawel (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
2. HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. KEYES, Fletcher (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
3. SMITH, Jason (SAC) def. SMITH, Corey (MSU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
4. FUENTES, Alberto (MSU) def. STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
5. CHING, Holden (SAC) def. FERRERO, Esteban (MSU) 7-6 (9-7), 6-2
6. PERKINS, Myles (MSU) def. DeGUZMAN, Joe (SAC) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)

Doubles competition
1. HARBATSIUK, Kiryl/STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) def. KEYES, Fletcher/FUENTES, Alberto (MSU) 8-6
2. SMITH, Jason/CHING, Holden (SAC) def. SMITH, Corey/TURZANSKI, Pawel (MSU) 9-8 (12-10)
3. DeGUZMAN, Joe/STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. PERKINS, Myles/FERRERO, Esteban (MSU) 8-6

Match Notes:
Sacramento State 4-4, 3-1 Big Sky
Montana State 3-10, 0-4 Big Sky
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,1,3,4,5,6)

Utah State 4, Sacramento State 3
Singles competition
1. Jakob Asplund (USU) def. Anton Stryhas (SAC), 7-5, 4-6, 7-6
2. Kiryl Harbatsiuk (SAC) def. Sven Poslusny (USU), 6-3, 6-3
3. Jason Smith (SAC) def. Bryan Marchant (USU), 6-3, 6-4
4. Amit Maharaj (USU) def. Marko Starcevic (SAC), 6-2, 6-7, 7-5
5. Holden Ching (SAC) def. Alex Thatcher (USU), 7-6, 6-4
6. Nikita Ryashchenko (USU) def. Jimmy Roberts (SAC), 6-4, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Asplund/Marchant (USU) def. Stryhas/Harbatsiuk (SAC), 8-6
2. Smith/Ching (SAC) def. Maharaj/Poslusny (USU), 8-2
3. Ryashchenko/Thatcher (USU) def. Starcevic/Roberts (SAC), 8-5