UTSA
Cal Poly Men's Tennis Defends Home Courts in Doubleheader
3/15/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Cal Poly men's tennis (11-4) hosted a doubleheader Thursday against the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA 8-7) and the University of Idaho (5-5). The Mustangs took down both teams, sweeping UTSA 4-0 and defeating Idaho 4-2.
The dual match against UTSA began at 12:00 p.m. at Mustang Courts. Junior Josh Otrlip was out with the flu, so Cal Poly had to change their normal lineup.
In doubles, freshmen Roman Shenkiyrk and Andrew Whitehouse played on court one, defeating Joao Ceolin and Igor Catanhede 6-2.
On court three, senior Axel Damiens and sophomore Antoine Noel took down Javier Gonzalez and Patrick Poestinger 7-5.
Junior Dominic Bechard and senior Karl Enander played Gabriel Bigiga and Kai Breitbach but did not finish.
In singles, Enander defeated Cantanhede first 6-3, 6-0 on court six.
Next, Bechard defeated Breitbach 7-5, 6-2 on court one. This was the first time Bechard played in the one spot this season.
Next, Noel defeated Bugiga 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 on court two to secure the first dual match of the day.
Damiens played Gonzalez on court three, Stater played Ceolin on court four, and Shenkiyrk played Poestinger on court five. None of the matches finished.
After a short break, Cal Poly squared off against Idaho for their second dual match of the day.
In doubles, Bechard and Enander defeated Lucas Coutinho and Esteban Satibanez 6-1.
Damiens and Noel defeated Felipe Fonseca and Guilherme Scarpelli 6-4, securing the doubles point for the Mustangs.
Idaho's Mark Kovacs and Carols Longhi Neto rank 53rd in ITA doubles. The Mustangs sent out their freshmen Shenkiyrk and Whitehouse to see if they could hang with the ranked duo but did not finish the match.
In singles, Damiens defeated an injured Scarpelli 7-6 in the first set before Idaho retired the point to Cal Poly.
Bechard took down Carlos Longhi Neto 6-4, 6-3 putting the Mustangs up 3-0. He won Big West Athlete of the Week last week for the first time in his career and grew his singles record to 10-1 this season. When asked about how he felt after the doubleheader he said, "I feel pretty good, I'm just used to it." Joking around, he describes himself as, "a bit confident," when it comes to singles. He went on to say, "The next thing to do is get ranked which I feel like I'm close to."
Idaho won their two points against freshmen Stater and Shenkiyrk. Fonseca defeated Stater 6-2, 6-1 and Esteban Santibanez defeated Shenkiyrk 6-1, 6-4.
Noel secured the win for Cal Poly defeating Mark Kovas 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
Enander played Coutinho on court six but didn't get to finish his match. Associate Head Coach Garrett Patton had kind words to say, "I was really proud of our senior Karl at six who battled all the way to the finish. He didn't get to finish his match but he stepped into the singles lineup after not playing much."
The two wins on Thursday made the Mustangs 11-4 this season.
Cal Poly resumes action Sunday, March 25 against Boise State at home at 12:00 p.m.
