Westmont fell a bit short in its effort to win the Golden State Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament, falling 5-2 to undefeated Vanguard (21-0) in the championship match.
Despite the loss, the Warriors (11-10) are expected to receive an at-large invitation to the NAIA National Tournament that will be held May 14-18 in Mobile, Alabama.
Vanguard took two of the three doubles matches to claim a 2-1 lead before singles play. Westmont’s win in doubles came on the number two court where Rodrigo Schaefer and Joshua Barnard posted an 8-2 victory over Lukas Larsson and Robin Wager.
Vanugard’s Roger Muri and Stefan Kilchhofer won at number one doubles 8-3 over Tim Goranson and John Bertram. At number three, Yahor Kryvaruchka and Daymon Johnson defeated Lukas Zielen and Travis Kimsey by a score of 8-5.
Schaefer, who hurt his back during Thursday’s semifinal match against Concordia, was unable to complete his match at number two singles. After falling 6-4 in the first set and trailing 2-0 in the second, Schaefer had to retire, which gave Vanguard a 3-1 lead.
Kilchhofer extended the lead to 4-1 with a 6-4, 6-0 win at number one singles over Goranson.
Westmont picked up a point on the number five court where Barnard delivered a 6-4, 6-3 win over Kryvaruchka. However, Johnson closed the door for Vanguard with a 6-2, 6-2 win on court six.
Left unfinished were the singles matches at number three and four. At number three, Bertram posted a 6-2 win in the first set and was tied 5-5 with Larrson in the second set. On the number four court, Zielen lost the first set 7-6 (1) but was ahead 3-1 in the second set when play was abandoned.
Westmont will next compete at the Ojai Tournament at the end of April.
