Pacific
Cal Poly Men's Tennis Rallies for 4-3 Victory Over Pacific
2/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
STOCKTON, Calif. — The Cal Poly men's tennis team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to edge Pacific 4-3 in a non-conference match held indoors at In-Shape Health Club on Saturday.
Cal Poly improved to 3-2 on the year while Pacific fell to 0-5.
After Cal Poly dropped the doubles point and the first two singles matches, Mustang No. 1 singles player Ben Donovan sparked the comeback with a 6-1, 7-6 (6) win over Pacific's Sem Verbeek, who was ranked No. 125 in the ITA's preseason singles rankings and was an All-West Coast Conference player a year ago.
"I'm extremely proud of Ben Donovan today," said Mustang assistant coach Mike Marquez. "He was definitely not feeling his best, but dug deep and got us our first win."
Cal Poly's Nos. 4-5-6 singles players, Lucas Lesoeur, Naveen Beasley and Karl Enander all won their matches in straight sets to clinch the team victory. Lesouer and Enander are freshmen while Beasley (pictured above) is a senior.
"Being down 0-3, Ben and our two freshmen did an amazing job playing complete matches and winning in straight sets," said Carless.
"Lesoeur and Enander are exceptional indoor players and it really showed today," added Marquez. "I'm expecting solid tennis from both these two over their careers."
Beasley's 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Achnin Sharma at No. 5 singles was the final match to be completed and snapped the 3-3 deadlock.
"For Beasley to clinch the match is something he has been proving over and over in his career," Carless said. "With our backs up against the wall, we showed great heart and determination to pull out a tough win."
The Mustangs will stay in Northern California for a Sunday match at Sacramento State, starting at 11 a.m. in Rio Del Oro Racquet Club.
