Feb. 20, 2010

Results

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Lions are now 2-0 on their road trip up north with a win over St. Mary's earlier today at the Korth Tennis Complex. Even though the Lions were unable to clinch the doubles point, they came through big in singles play to win 5-2 overall. Next up the Lions will be looking to get their third straight win against Santa Clara to round out their back-to-back three day northern California series.

In singles play the Lions went 6-1 overall. On court five, Johan Berhof defeated Luck of St. Mary's 6-2, 6-2 handily. Geza Bazula also clinched a quick victory on court six over Dawson of St. Mary's 6-0, 6-2. Junior Ivan Lopez earned another consistent win for the Lions at the number one position defeating Tirelli 6-4, 6-4. With this win, Lopez pushes his singles record to 4-3 overall this season. At the number three position, Otto Sauer defeated St. Mary's Hamdy 6-2, 6-2 while on court four, senior Renzo Maggi came back from a 3-6 loss in his first set to win 6-1, 6-2.

The Lions were unable to clinch the doubles point today however came back in singles to clinch the overall victory. Seniors Renzo Maggi and Borja Malet were the Lion's only doubles victory. The duo defeated Carreno/Zannoni of St. Mary's 8-3 for their second straight doubles win after their win at Davis yesterday. In other doubles play, Lopez/Sauer fell to Tirelli/Leon 9-7 and Zapala/Baluza fell to Hamdy/Dawson 8-6.

Coach Bradley Sceney said, "We didn't play great doubles across the board, but we were able to put that aside and focus on our singles. I think last year we may have struggled to over-come that, but we were mature and focused enough to stay in control. Each line was contested today, and when you are in every match with a chance to win, it can help build pressure for the other team. We did that well today."

Tomorrow the Lions will travel to Palo Alto for a match against conference opponents Santa Clara. The match will begin at 11:00 am at Santa Clara University.

Singles:
Lopez LMU def. Tirelli SMC 6-4, 6-4
Zannoni SM def. Malet LMU 6-2, 7-6
Sauer LMU def. Hamdy SMC 6-2, 6-2
Maggi LMU def. Leon SMC 3-6, 6-1, 7-5
Berhof LMU def. Luck SMC 6-2, 6-2
Bazula LMU def. Dawson SMC 6-0, 6-2

Doubles:
Tirelli/Leon SMC def. Lopez/Sauer LMU 9-7
Malet/Maggi LMU def. Carreno/Zannoni SMC 8-3
Hamdy/Dawson SMC def. Zapala/Bazula LMU 8-6