MEN’S TENNIS KEEPS IT CLOSE, BUT FALLS TO 13TH-RANKED CAL

2/8/2012

BERKELEY, Calif. – Cal’s Carlos Cueto, Ben McLachlan, Gregory Bayane and Ahmed Ismail each won in straight sets to lift 13th-ranked Cal to a 6-1 victory over Sacramento State in a non-conference men’s tennis match Wednesday afternoon at the Hellman Tennis Center.

In a match that was closer than the final score indicated, Sacramento State nearly won the doubles point, splitting matches at No. 1 and No. 3, before the Hornet tandem of Aliaksandr Malko and Tom Miller fell at No. 2 by an 8-6 score.

In singles play, Malko lost at No. 1 in a third-set super tiebreak by a 10-8 score to Cal’s Nick Andrews. Roy Brandys kept his match close at No. 4 before falling, 7-5, 6-3, to Gregory Bayane. The lone winner in singles play for Sacramento State was Marek Marksoo, who knocked off Riki McLachlan at No. 5 by a 6-2, 6-4 score.

The Hornets, who used five freshmen in today’s match (Miller, Marksoo, Brandys, Sean Kolar and Jonathan Hultkrantz), dropped to 0-3 on the young season. However, all three losses have come against teams that are either ranked (Cal, Arizona) or that were ranked in the preseason top 75 (San Francisco).

Sacramento State’s doubles team of freshmen Brandys and Marksoo was impressive in its match at No. 3, easily handling Cal’s Bayane and Ismail, 8-2.

Sacramento State does not play again for 10 days as the team’s next match will take place against Big Sky Conference foe Weber State in the home opener on Feb. 18.

Tennis Match Results
Sacramento State vs California
Feb 08, 2012 at Berkeley, Calif.
(Hellman Tennis Complex)

#13 California 6, Sacramento State 1

Singles competition
1. Nick Andrews (CAL) def. MALKO, Aliaksandr (SAC) 3-6, 6-4, 10-8
2. Carlos Cueto (CAL) def. MILLAN, Javier (SAC) 6-1, 6-0
3. #42 Ben McLachlan (CAL) def. KOLAR, Sean (SAC) 6-0, 6-2
4. Gregory Bayane (CAL) def. BRANDYS, Roy (SAC) 7-5, 6-3
5. MARKSOO, Marek (SAC) def. Riki McLachlan (CAL) 6-2, 6-4
6. Ahmed Ismail (CAL) def. HULTKRANTZ, Jonathan (SAC) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Nick Andrews/Ben McLachlan (CAL) def. KOLAR, Sean/MILLAN, Javier (SAC) 8-5
2. Riki McLachlan/Andrew Scholnick (CAL) def. MILLER, Tom/MALKO, Aliaksandr (SAC) 8-6
3. MARKSOO, Marek/BRANDYS, Roy (SAC) def. Gregory Bayane/Ahmed Ismail (CAL) 8-2

Match Notes:
Sacramento State 0-3
California 4-2; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,6,3,4,5,1)