SMU
No. 61 Cal Poly Upended by No. 53 SMU
2/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
DALLAS, Texas – Contesting its second road match in the state of Texas in as many days, the 61st-ranked Cal Poly men's tennis team couldn't find an answer against 53rd-ranked SMU on Sunday and fell 7-0 at Turpin Stadium. Cal Poly falls to 3-6 in spring dual matches this season, while SMU improves to 5-3.
Including Sunday's matchup with SMU, Cal Poly has now played six nationally-ranked opponents this season.
Starting out the day, SMU won a pair of doubles matchups to collect the early 1-0 advantage. Behind wins from Hunter Johnson and Yates Johnson over juniors Corey Pang and Ben Donovan at No. 1, 6-0 and Markus Kerner and Ronald Slobodchikov over sophomores Karl Enander and Dan Cardiff, 6-2 at No. 3, the hometown Mustangs grabbed the lead.
Cal Poly had no answer in singles, either, as SMU won every solo matchup including Yates Johnson over freshman Rafael Lenhard at No. 6, 6-1 and 6-3. Armed with a 2-0 advantage, SMU's Slobodchikov downed sophomore Axel Damiens from the fifth position, 6-3 and 6-2, and Hunter Johnson outlasted sophomore Garrett Auproux in two sets at No. 1, 6-3 and 6-3 to secure the match triumph.
SMU's Nate Lammons beat sophomore Corey Pang from the third position, 6-2 and 6-2, while Samm Butler defeated junior Ben Donovan at No. 2, 6-2 and 6-3.
Cal Poly freshman Josh Ortlip (pictured) was the only attacker that could get any momentum against SMU on Sunday, as he forced a tiebreak in both of his losses (7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4)) against Kerner from the fourth position.
Cal Poly (3-6) returns home for its longest home stand of the season, starting with a 12 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 bout with Fresno State at Mustang Courts. Cal Poly is scheduled play its next nine matches in the friendly confines of San Luis Obispo (Feb. 27 through April 3).
