SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga men's tennis team picked up two victories over visiting Nebraska Omaha Saturday afternoon inside the Stevens Center, starting with a 4-0 sweep over the Mavericks in the first match and followed by a 4-3 victory in the afternoon.
Matthew Perkins and
Hunter Egger kicked things off for the Zags in doubles play, making quick work of Nebraska Omaha's Julian Kenzlers and Ethan Henry with at 6-3 win at No. 3.
Sasha Trkulja paired with
Leon Roider for the 6-4 win at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point for Gonzaga.
In singles play,
Theo McDonald secured the first victory for GU with a 7-5, 6-2 win over the Mavericks' Alvaro Quintana, while Trkulja ran past Abdoul Ouattara 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1. A 6-3, 6-2 victory by
Pablo Gomez Galvan at No. 3 clinched the match point for Gonzaga; all remaining singles matches went unfinished.
"I'm very proud of the team beating a very solid Nebraska Omaha team twice in one day," said Head Coach
Jonas Piibor. "Knowing that we were shorthanded, the guys really stepped up and showed a tremendous great and growth today which will be beneficial in the future."
In the afternoon match, Nebraska-Omaha (7-10) took the doubles point and early lead in the match. Matt Hulme and Ouattara defeated Gomez Galvan and McDonald 6-1 at No. 1, and the Mavericks were able to clinch the doubles point at No. 2 doubles as Hugo Piles Ballester and Julian Lawley bested Roider and Trkulja 6-3.
"I'm really proud of the team," said Perkins. "I thought we fought really hard and left everything out there. It was a great way to cap off the weekend."
McDonald kicked things off for the Zags in singles play with the early 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 5, but Nebraska Omaha responded with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 4. GU's Perkins battled for the next singles win for the Bulldogs, defeating Quintana 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6 singles to tie the match 2-2. Gomez Galvan secured a win at No. 3 to give GU the match advantage, while Roider clinched the match victory with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Ouattara at No. 2. No. 1 singles played out, with Nebraska-Omaha earning the tiebreaker win 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-1).
Gonzaga (11-3) returns to play Saturday, March 27 as it kicks off West Coast Conference play against Portland inside the Stevens Center. The match is set to begin at 2 p.m. Check GoZags.com for up-to-date match time information.
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