SBCC pushed Glendale to the brink Thursday afternoon before dropping a 5-4 match to the No. 4-ranked team in Southern California at Pershing Park.
Glendale, which also uses the nickname Vaqueros, handed Santa Barbara its first loss by rallying to win the final-set doubles tiebreaker 10-8 with all the players watching. Paul Nagapetyan and Marko Gortinski edged Antonio Rodrigues-Hiro Inoue 9-8 (10-8 tiebreak) in the decisive match.
“It was a heartbreaker,” said SBCC coach Don Lowry, whose team fell to 1-1 in the WSC. “It came down to a 10-8 tiebreak in the final match. We fought off some match points and we had some of our own.
“We missed (didn’t get) a couple of calls in the middle of the tiebreak that put them up 4-1 instead of 3-2. Then we got it back to 4-4 and there was a very questionable call by Glendale.”
Santa Barbara’s Ryan Sweeney dropped a tight match at No. 1 singles to Rony Yeghynazary 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (3) and Alex Zazove also dropped a three-setter at No. 3 singles.
“The guys really competed well,” Lowry concluded. “We had a chance to win it in the last tiebreak but they got a win on our home court. They proved they were good and we certainly did too.”
GLENDALE 5, SBCC 4
At Pershing Park
Glendale 5, SBCC 4. Singles–Rony Yeghynazary, G, def. Ryan Sweeney 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (3); Elliot Markowitz, SB, def. Emanuel Haug 5-4 (retired, injury); Joe Tresierras, G, def. Alex Zazove 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2; Paul Nagapetyan, G, def. Zack Scott 6-1, 6-2; Antonio Rodriguez, SB, def. Ryan Stanbury 6-3, 6-4; Marko Gortinski, G, def. Hiro Inoue 6-4, 6-0. Doubles–Sweeney-Markowitz, SB, def. Yeghynazary-Alex Matevosian 8-1; Zazove-Scott, SB, def. Tresierras-Stanbury 8-1; Nagapetyan-Gortinski, G, def. Rodriguez-Inoue 9-8 (10-8). Records–SBCC 1-1 overall, 1-1 WSC.
