Jan. 23, 2011

Results

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -

The Lions got their second straight victory of the season today with a 5-2 win over conference rival Saint Mary's College. After dropping the doubles point in a close tiebreaker, the LMU racquet men came back to win five of the six courts in singles. This win gives the Lions two straight wins in the opening two matches of their spring season and the proof that this young team has the will and the heart to fight for the win.

In doubles the Lions dropped a heartbreaker after a long battle on court one to decide the doubles decision. On court three Benkirane and Tirelil quickly defeated Jack Zapala and Tyler Gottshall of LMU 6-1. The Lions came back on court two with a big win from Nicholas Bjerke and Daniel Simko 7-4. The freshman duo had strong serving for the day and quick at the net plays to give them a nice win. The doubles point then came down to court one, where Alex Wilton and Sebastian Bustamante battled it out in a drawn-out tiebreaker against Ellison/Olivan of St. Mary's. After a back and forth battle with comebacks on both sides, the Gaels placed out two powerful ground strokes to win the tie breaker 9-7.

In singles the Lions came back fighting to earn wins on five courts and therefore win the match overall 5-2. On court four and six, freshman Alex Wilton and Daniel Simko each earned their second straight singles wins for the season. Wilton wrapped up his sets in fast fashion with strong serving, defeating Benkirane 6-2, 6-1. Teammate Daniel Simko defeated Leon 6-1, 6-4 on court six with some decisive crosscourt plays. After Tom Price dropped his match to Joakim Norstrom 7-6, 6-0, the Lions got their third point on the day from senior Aris Andreasian on court one. For the second week in a row, Andreasian won his match at the number one position for the Lions, going 6-3, 6-4 over Lucas Tirelli of St. Mary's. The Lion's fate then came down to court two and three where Sebastian Bustamante and Nicholas Bjerke both gutted out long sets in the heat to finally prevail over the Gaels. Nicholas Bjerke finished his first set 6-4, and then smashed one down the line to win his second set 6-2. This final rally sparked cheers from the crowd and gave the Lion's their fourth point they were looking for to win the match overall. Finally after a grueling doubles match, Sebastian Bustamante took Maxime Olivan to three sets to finally get another win going 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

This win puts the Lions 2-0 with two straight wins to kick off their season and an early conference victory. Next up the Lions will play University of Missouri-Kansas City on February 4th, at 1:30pm at the LMU Tennis Center.