Arizona
Donovan and Pang Win 10th Straight Doubles, But No. 65 Cal Poly Falls 4-3
3/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
BOISE, Idaho – Despite taking the doubles point and grabbing the early advantage against Arizona, the 65th-ranked Cal Poly men's tennis team was outdueled by the Wildcats, 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Appleton Tennis Center in Boise. For Cal Poly, it was the fifth straight match that was decided by a 4-3 final.
Cal Poly's No. 1 doubles tandem of sophomores Ben Donovan (pictured) and Corey Pang won their 10th consecutive match overall in convincing fashion, dispatching Naoki Takeda and Sumeet Shinde, 6-0. The duo of Donovan and Pang improved to 10-1 when paired together this season and remained undefeated at No. 1 (4-0).
Senior Devin Barber and sophomore Garrett Auproux ousted David Mushayev and Shoki Kasahara, 6-2, to collect the doubles point for Cal Poly. Barber and Auproux won their first match when playing together in the second position this season. The singles portion of the match, however, proved to be Cal Poly's undoing after collecting the momentum from doubles.
"We played great doubles this afternoon," Carless said. "But we made too many unforced errors in singles to beat a great team like the University of Arizona."
Arizona's Takeda – the ITA's 45th-ranked singles player in the nation – defeated Donovan at No. 1 singles, 6-2 and 6-0 to even the match at one apiece. Auproux won his sixth singles match in a row with a straight-set victory over the Wildcats' Shinde (7-5, 6-3), who is the ITA's 118th-ranked singles player.
The Wildcats would then snatch two of the next three singles points, including Mushayev downing Pang (6-3, 6-4) in the No. 3 position and Jason Jaruvang's two-set win over Mustang senior Naveen Beasley, 6-0 and 7-6 (5) at No. 4.
Cal Poly freshman Lucas Lesoeur beat UA's Will Kneale in consecutive sets, 6-0 and 7-6 (4), which knotted the match at three apiece. Lesoeur picked up his first victory at No. 5 singles this season.
Mustang freshman Axel Damiens battled back from an early deficit at the sixth position, but was outlasted by Kasahara (6-4, 4-6, 6-4), which provided the finishing touch on Arizona's win.
Cal Poly (9-7) battles Boise State at 3 p.m. Monday to conclude its two-match road trip in Idaho.
Singles
1. #45 Naoki Takeda (UA) def. Ben Donovan (CP) 6-2, 6-0
2. Garrett Auproux (CP) def. #118 Sumeet Shinde (UA) 7-5, 6-3
3. David Mushayev (UA) def. Corey Pang (CP) 6-3, 6-4
4. Jason Jaruvang (UA) def. Naveen Beasley (CP) 6-0, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Lucas Lesoeur (CP) def. Will Kneale (UA) 6-0, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Shoki Kasahara (UA) def. Axel Damiens (CP) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles
1. Ben Donovan/Corey Pang (CP) def. Sumeet Shinde/Naoki Takeda (UA) 6-0
2. Garrett Auproux/Devin Barber (CP) def. David Mushayev/Shoki Kasahara (UA) 6-2
3. Matt Dunn/Jason Jaruvang (UA) vs. Karl Enander/Lucas Lesoeur (CP) unfinished
