Feb. 6, 2011

Results

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The LMU men's tennis team was unable to hold off the exhausting efforts of conference rivals, Santa Clara University today. In a close fought duel, the Lions secured the doubles point early in the day with wins from Simko/Bjerke and Bustamante/Wilton, but were unable to hold onto their early lead in singles play. The Santa Clara Broncos took the match overall 4-3.

As the doubles started each team took the courts with concentration and intensity. For each team, this conference match up was predicted to be close and both wanted to come out on top. The Lions had the momentum after winning the doubles point, but after three back-to-back days of match competition they were unable to hold on in singles.

In doubles the Lions started of with a quick win from Sebastian Bustamante and Alex Wilton on court two. The duo took out Armgengaud/Lambel of Santa Clara in a swift 8-2 giving the Lions their first victory of the day. After Tyler Gottshall and Jack Zapala let a lead slip on the third court, the doubles decision came down to court one. Daniel Simko and Nicholas Bjerke battled to come back after being down 4-0 to win 9-7 and secure the doubles point for the Lions.

As singles started, the tense competition got heated with both sides drive to get the win. After Sebastian Bustamante dropped quickly on court two, the Lions and Broncos stood tied. Teammates Daniel Simko and Tom Price also fell to the Broncos in two sets to give the Broncos the lead 3-1. However on court four, LMU's Alex Wilton came back to win in three sets 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 over Nicholas Vinel of Santa Clara. Wilton gave the Lions a bit of momentum to try and come back and put his singles record at 4-1 overall for the season. Then teammate Nicholas Bjerke also secured the Lion's third point with a win over John Lamble 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 also going to a third set to get a win. This win gives Bjerke a 3-1 singles record this season playing at LMU's number three position. The match came down to court one, where senior Aris Andresian battled Santa Clara's Kyle Dandan. Dandan was able to pull off the win 7-6, 6-4 but not without a full duel from Andreasian who left it all on the court to try and get LMU the overall win.

On all six courts, each played through exhaustion and injury with the heart of a Lion. Even with a close loss in the books, you can be sure that this young team will be ready for the Broncos again come the conference tournament in April. Overall with an exhausting three match series, the Lions will be looking forward to resting up before they hit the road and travel north to face Fresno State, Fresno Pacific and conference rivals San Francisco February 11-13.