Broncos Ace First Test of Year

Men’s tennis opens up play with victoryTyler J. ScottTHE SANTA CLARAJanuary 23, 2014 [dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith the sun shining on the first official day of a new season, the Broncos came out blazing, defeating the University of California, Davis 4-3 on Saturday. Santa Clara won the doubles point over the Aggies with victories from two duos. Sophomore Ashot Khacharyan and junior transfer Sam Bertram won in the No. 2 doubles position and freshman partners Mikheil Khmiadashvili and Jesse Ross came out victorious in the No. 3 position. “We’ve got a lot of new guys,” said Head Coach Derek Mills. “We’ve set the bar high the last four years, but you know, we expect to win. We’re going to compete as hard as we can every match, no matter who we play and we’re going to get after it.”Both Bronco pairs won their matches 6-4. The No. 1 Santa Clara pair of senior John Lamble and junior Ilya Osintsev was leading its match 5-4, but play was suspended after the other two Bronco partners clinched their matches. Santa Clara’s success in doubles play carried over into singles action. Osintsev faced the Aggies’ senior Parker Kelley and overwhelmed him easily in the first set, 6-1. In a much tighter second set, Osintsev came out on top with a 6-5 tiebreaker. “I hope we win as many matches as we can,” Osintsev said. “We’ve been working hard so far and we’re going to work hard for the rest of the season. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.”Lamble also notched a singles win on Saturday. He cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over UC Davis’ Kyle Miller. After getting up on Miller 3-0 in the first set, he never looked back. The senior was named First Team All-West Coast Conference last year and is off to an 8-3 record this season. Lamble’s teammate, junior Sam Bertram, was the final Bronco to clinch a win. Despite falling behind early in the first set, Bertram battled back, eventually winning his match 6-4, 6-4. Khacharyan, Khmiadashvili and Ross were unable to find their winning ways in singles play. Khacharyan and Khmiadashvili both fell in three sets.The squad hits the road for their upcoming matches on Jan. 25 and 26.“We go down to Los Angeles to play (the University of Southern California) and then either Georgia State or Wichita State in the next round in the (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) kickoff so we’ve got a long week of practice and we’ve got to get better,” said Mills. “I like the doubles today, but we’ve got to get better in singles and still sharpen up a little in our doubles.”  Contact Tyler J. Scott at tscott@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.