Saturday, May 1
Irvine, CA
12 P.M.
4
vs
3
Hawai'i
Mustangs Win 4-3 Thriller Over Hawai’i to Advance to Big West Tournament Championship
5/1/2021 4:05:00 PM | Men's Tennis
IRVINE, Calif. — Redshirt senior Antoine Noel held off four match points in his third set tiebreaker to come back and win his match and clinch the Cal Poly men's tennis team's 4-3 victory over Hawai'i Saturday in the Big West Tournament semifinals in Irvine.
The win sends the Mustangs (14-7) to Sunday's Big West Tournament championship match for the sixth time in the last seven tournaments. It also extends their winning streak to 10 matches and keeps them undefeated against Big West opponents this season.
Cal Poly was able to win the match despite the Rainbow Warriors taking the doubles point to start off the match by winning on courts one and three.
In singles, the Mustangs found themselves down 0-2 after Hawai'i took the first singles match at the No. 1 spot in straight sets. However, Cal Poly later tied the match 2-2 after redshirt freshman Joe Leather won his match at the No. 4 spot in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-2 and fellow redshirt freshman Fernando Fonseca also winning his match in straight sets at the No. 5 spot by the same scores 7-6(3), 6-2.
The Mustangs then took a 3-2 lead after redshirt sophomore Gary Vardanyan took his match in three sets at the No. 6 spot 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Hawai'i later evened the match 3-3 after winning at the No. 2 spot in three sets to force it to come down to Noel at the No. 3 spot.
After dropping the first set 5-7, Noel came back to win the second set 6-2 to force a deciding third set. In a back-and-forth battle with the Rainbow Warriors' Blaz Seric, the third set came down to a decisive tiebreaker. In that tiebreaker which is first to seven points winning by two, Noel found himself down 3-6. He then held off three consecutive match points to tie it 6-6 before holding off another match point down 6-7. From there, he won consecutive points to clinch the tiebreaker 9-7 and the 4-3 victory for Cal Poly.
The Mustangs will now face rival UCSB Sunday at noon in the Big West Tournament championship match. Cal Poly beat the Gauchos 4-3 when the two teams faced each other April 17. The Mustangs will be looking for its first Big West Tournament title since 2014.
Photo courtesy of Robert Huskey/Big West Conference
The win sends the Mustangs (14-7) to Sunday's Big West Tournament championship match for the sixth time in the last seven tournaments. It also extends their winning streak to 10 matches and keeps them undefeated against Big West opponents this season.
Cal Poly was able to win the match despite the Rainbow Warriors taking the doubles point to start off the match by winning on courts one and three.
In singles, the Mustangs found themselves down 0-2 after Hawai'i took the first singles match at the No. 1 spot in straight sets. However, Cal Poly later tied the match 2-2 after redshirt freshman Joe Leather won his match at the No. 4 spot in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-2 and fellow redshirt freshman Fernando Fonseca also winning his match in straight sets at the No. 5 spot by the same scores 7-6(3), 6-2.
The Mustangs then took a 3-2 lead after redshirt sophomore Gary Vardanyan took his match in three sets at the No. 6 spot 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Hawai'i later evened the match 3-3 after winning at the No. 2 spot in three sets to force it to come down to Noel at the No. 3 spot.
After dropping the first set 5-7, Noel came back to win the second set 6-2 to force a deciding third set. In a back-and-forth battle with the Rainbow Warriors' Blaz Seric, the third set came down to a decisive tiebreaker. In that tiebreaker which is first to seven points winning by two, Noel found himself down 3-6. He then held off three consecutive match points to tie it 6-6 before holding off another match point down 6-7. From there, he won consecutive points to clinch the tiebreaker 9-7 and the 4-3 victory for Cal Poly.
The Mustangs will now face rival UCSB Sunday at noon in the Big West Tournament championship match. Cal Poly beat the Gauchos 4-3 when the two teams faced each other April 17. The Mustangs will be looking for its first Big West Tournament title since 2014.
Photo courtesy of Robert Huskey/Big West Conference
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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