Pacific
Cal Poly Topples No. 70 Pacific, 4-3
2/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Cal Poly men's tennis team delivered four of the initial five points against the 70th-ranked Pacific Tigers on Sunday afternoon and won 4-3 at Mustang Courts. It's the first win for the Mustangs against a ranked opponent this season and with the victory, Cal Poly improves to 5-6 during dual match play while the Tigers fall to 6-5.
No. 70 Pacific had beaten No. 27 UC Santa Barbara yesterday prior to Sunday's battle with the Mustangs. Cal Poly head coach Nick Carless expressed his excitement after Sunday's victory.
"I'm so proud of this group of guys," Carless said. "We've been away from home a lot to start the season and our schedule hasn't been easy."
To begin the day's action, the Cal Poly junior duo of Ben Donovan and Corey Pang outlasted Pacific's 40th-ranked tandem of Sem Verbeek and Jose Chamba from the first doubles position, 6-3. Cal Poly's pair of Garrett Auproux and Tim Tan then beat UOP's Daniel Alameh and Alex Giannini in the second spot, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point for the Mustangs.
Individually, Cal Poly was too much for the Tigers to overcome on Sunday, as the Mustangs collected the three of the first four singles points to clinch the match early.
From the fifth singles position, Cal Poly sophomore Axel Damiens (pictured) defeated Giannini in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-2, and Pang delivered a two-set win over Miguel Diaz from the No. 3 spot, 6-3 and 6-3. With Cal Poly holding a 3-0 advantage, UOP's Jose Chamba ousted freshman Josh Ortlip at No. 4, 6-4 and 6-4 before Auproux secured the match-clinching point for the Mustangs.
Auproux outlasted Alameh from the No. 2 singles spot, 6-1, 1-6 and 6-3 to cement Cal Poly's second consecutive victory and third in the last five matchups overall.
"We're excited to continue our home stand next weekend and grow from what our early-season matches have taught us," said Carless. "Our guys showed lots of maturity and heart and we played some good tennis today."
Cal Poly (5-6) continues its season-long, nine-match home stand next week when welcoming both San Francisco at 12 p.m. Friday and Sacramento State at 12 p.m. Saturday. Admission to Mustang Courts is always free.
