Westmont Men’s Tennis served notice in its Golden State Athletic Conference opener by defeating #7 Point Loma Nazarene (0-1, 0-1 GSAC) by a score of 7-2 in San Diego. The sixteenth ranked Warriors won the top five singles matches and the top two doubles matches.
“It was an amazing effort and I couldn’t have been happier for the guys,” said Westmont Head Coach Mark Basham. “It is by far and away the best effort this year and it happened immediately. We were up in all three doubles early. They were moving and playing with a lot of energy and confidence and covering the middle of the court.”
In doubles action, Carlos Lima and Bryan Cox teamed up at number one to defeated Tyler Bowman and David Jaehnig 8-3. Mattias Newman and Almeida Diego earned the Warriors’ win at number two by a score of 9-7 over Curt Wheeler and Landon Hilker. Point Loma’s Joel Myers and Travis Albaugh picked up a point for the Sea Lions’ with a narrow 9-8 victory at number three over Tiago Hayashi and Arthur Kalayjian.
“We were so close to winning all three doubles,” said Basham. “Tiago and Arthur showed a lot of improvement – Tiago with his volleys at the net and Arthur seeing the ball well. The guys continued with the momentum going into singles.”
Lima, playing in his first match for the Warriors, posted a 6-2, 6-0 win over Myers on the number one court. At number two, Hayashi earned a 6-4, 7-5 win for Westmont over Wheeler. Bryan Cox netted the Warriors another point at number three where he defeated Bowman 7-5, 7-5.
Almeida won on the number five court for the Warriors, defeating Jaehnig 6-3, 6-4 and Neuman cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Albaugh. On the number six court, the Sea Lions’ Trent Brown narrowly defeated Stormans 6-4, 7-6.
With the win, the Warriors improve to 1-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. Westmont will return to action on Wednesday, February 17 when they welcome Hope International to the Abbott Tennis Courts for the Warriors’ home opener.
