MEN’S TENNIS FALLS AT NATIONALLY RANKED SANTA CLARA, 5-2

2/16/2013

Tom Miller (above) and Sean Kolar won their match at No. 2 doubles to help win the doubles point

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Sacramento State won the doubles point, and got a singles victory from Niranjan Ram, but it was not enough as the Hornets fell to 37th-ranked Santa Clara, 5-2, in a non-conference men’s tennis match Saturday morning at the Degheri Tennis Center.

With the win, Santa Clara, who is ranked 37th in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), improved to 6-3. The Hornets dropped to 1-5, and have now played with a lineup featuring one senior, four sophomores and a redshirt freshman in every match this season.

Sacramento State received doubles victories from the tandems of Aliaksandr Malko / Marek Marksoo (8-6 at No. 1) and Tom Miller / Sean Kolar (9-8 at No. 2) to earn the doubles point. Miller and Kolar won their tiebreaker, 9-7, to clinch not only the match but the doubles point for the team. The doubles team of Malko/Marksoo is now 4-1 this season.

In singles play, the Broncos won in straight sets at each of the first five spots in the ladder while Ram salvaged Sacramento State’s lone singles victory at No. 6 with a 7-6, 6-0 defeat of Tomasz Soltyka.

Marksoo lost his match at No. 1 to 69th-ranked John Lamble, 6-4, 6-2. Malko (6-3, 6-1 at No. 2), Kolar (6-1, 6-2 at No. 3), Roy Brandys (7-5, 6-2 at No. 4) and Miller (7-6, 6-1 at No. 5) also fell in singles play for Sacramento State.

The Hornets, who have yet to play a home match this season, return to action next Saturday when they play at UC Davis in a match scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

#37 Santa Clara 5, Sacramento State 2

Singles competition
1. #69 John Lamble (SCU) def. MARKSOO, Marek (SAC) 6-4, 6-2
2. Ilya Osintsev (SCU) def. MALKO, Aliaksandr (SAC) 6-3, 6-1
3. Matt Kecki (SCU) def. KOLAR, Sean (SAC) 6-1, 6-2
4. Ashot Khacharyan (SCU) def. BRANDYS, Roy (SAC) 7-5, 6-2
5. Tom Pham (SCU) def. MILLER, Tom (SAC) 7-6, 6-1
6. RAM, Niranjan (SAC) def. Tomasz Soltyka (SCU) 7-6, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. MALKO, Aliaksandr/MARKSOO, Marek (SAC) def. Ilya Osintsev/Matt Kecki (SCU) 8-6
2. MILLER, Tom/KOLAR, Sean (SAC) def. John Lamble/Eugene Muchynski (SCU) 9-8 (9-7)
3. Tom Pham/Ashot Khacharyan (SCU) def. BRANDYS, Roy/RAM, Niranjan (SAC) 8-3

Match Notes:
Sacramento State 1-5
Santa Clara 6-3; National ranking #37
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,3,1,5,6,4)