In a match-up between top-ten teams, #8 Westmont Men’s Tennis fell 6-3 to sixth-ranked Vanguard at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.
“Overall, it was a hard fought match,” said Westmont Head Coach Mark Basham. “We got off to a tough start by losing the first two doubles matches.”
Tiago Hayashi and Arthur Kalayjian picked up the Warriors lone win in doubles, defeating Nils Iwdal and Garrett Gillon 8-5 on the number three court.
“Tiago and Arthur communicated well and were able to pull of an important win to help us avoid being 3-0 going into singles,” said Basham.
At number one, Vanguard’s Lucas Pereira and Tino Brodar were 8-2 winners over Carlos Lima and Bryan Cox. Alessandro Ventre and Sandro Bucher won for Vanguard at number two, defeating Diego Almeida and Mattias Neuman 8-4.
In the singles matches, the Warriors won at numbers three and five.
“It was great that Mattias won,” said Basham. “Today he was able to dominate his opponent both physically and mentally.”
Neuman defeated Mark Tarjan 6-1, 6-1 on the number five court while Cox picked up a more closely contested win at number three against Brodar 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4),
“Bryan played with great composure,” said Basham, “against an opponent with a big serve.”
On the number one court, Ventre defeated Lima 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 and at number two Hayashi lost to Pereira 6-3, 6-3. At number four, Almeida split with Bucher at number four 7-6 (4), 5-7, before losing the super-breaker 10-8. On the number six court, Yahor Kryvaruchka def. Kalayjian 7-5, 6-0.
Today’s match is the first of four during a five day trip that will take the Warriors to the desert of Southern California. On Sunday, Westmont will take on #1 Fresno Pacific at the Monterey Country Club in Palm Desert. Then on Tuesday, the Warriors will host #23 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage. Wednesday, Westmont and #11 Point Loma Nazarene will face off at the Plaza Racquet Club in Palm Springs.
