Gonzaga University
Santa Clara
Zags Push, but Santa Clara Wins 4-2
4/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
SPOKANE, Wash.--It was close for much of the match, but the Gonzaga men's tennis team fell late to Santa Clara by a 4-2 scoreline Friday afternoon at The Stevens Center in Spokane.
Gonzaga started the match by taking the doubles point, winning both pairs contests that finished. On court No. 3, Vicente Varas and Ronzai Saurombe came back from an early deficit to pick up the first doubles win, turning a 1-2 scoreline into a 6-2 victory by winning each of the last five games. Their win over Kamran Khan and Jeffrey Liang was their third of the dual season. Atop the doubles lineup, Hayden Smith and Jordan Smith clinched the match after putting away Ashot Khacharyan and Andrew Gu by a 6-4 tally. They now have 12 doubles wins on the year, including tournament wins.
On court two, Emilio Moreno and Ruadhan O'Sullivan squared off against Robert Seby and Connor Garnett. That match was halted and left unfinished.
The dual remained close throughout singles play as the teams saw two tie scores before Santa Clara pulled ahead for the win. The first tie score came after the first individual math to finish where Moreno fell to Garnett 6-1, 6-1 on court four. Up on No. 2, however, O'Sullivan gave Gonzaga the lead right back with a two-set win over Gu. The Cherrybrook, Australia, native topped Gu 6-2, 6-3 for his 11th win of the dual season.
Santa Clara tied the match then took the lead with the next two individual contests to finish. On court No. 3, Hayden Smith forced Seby into a first-set tiebreak, which the Bronco won 7-5. In the second set, Seby pulled away to cap off a 7-6, 6-1 win. The Broncos then took a lead atop the singles lineup when Khacharyan topped Jordan Smith. Like his fellow Aussie, Smith too forced a tiebreak in the first frame, which he lost 7-4. In the second set, Smith won three games, but it wasn't enough as Khacharyan won the match 7-6, 6-3 to put the Broncos up 3-2.
The visitors clinched the match on court five, where Khan came back from a set deficit to defeat Varas. The two competitors split the first two sets with Varas winning the first 4-6 and Khan taking the second 6-4. In the deciding fourth set, Khan prevailed 6-3, clinching the match for SCU.
At No. 6 singles, Saurombe was in his third set against Sebastien Matthieu after the two split their first two frames. Saurombe won the first by a tiebreaker at 7-6 (5), but Matthieu countered with a 4-6 win in the second. That match too remained unfinished.
Gonzaga (3-12, 0-5 WCC) continues the homestand Saturday, April 2, when San Francisco comes to town. That match against the Dons will start at 12:00 p.m., again at The Stevens Center.
