Tennis Falters in Road Test
Men’s team loses to the No. 45 and No. 66 teams in country
Claire McLoughlinTHE SANTA CLARAFebruary 26, 2015
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]en’s tennis traveled to Oregon last weekend to compete against the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Oregon, but were ultimately unable to secure either victory on the road.
The No. 65-ranked Broncos took on the No. 66-ranked Cornhuskers early and seemed to be handling them, taking two points in the doubles category thanks to the pairs of sophomore Mikheil Khmiadashvili and junior Ashot Khacharyan as well as seniors Ilya Osintsev and Sam Bertram.
Both duos made quick work of their Cornhusker competitors, walking away with wins of 6-4 in both matches. However, Bertram, who was later defeated by a Nebraska opponent in his singles match, says the Broncos later suffered from a lack of mental fortitude.
“We came really close in the first match but couldn’t pull through with singles,” he said. “Tennis, as with many other sports, is extremely mentally demanding. I don’t think we came out with the fire mindset, as we usually do.”
The Broncos added points with two wins in the singles category from Khacharyan, who picked up his 12th singles victory on the season, and Khmiadashvili, who picked up his 20th. Nevertheless, the points were not enough to overcome the deficit, and the Broncos fell to the Cornhuskers 4-3.
Following their matches on Saturday, the Broncos returned to Eugene’s Student Tennis Center and faced the No. 45-ranked Ducks of Oregon. Bertram was the sole Bronco victor on Sunday, defeating Oregon’s Jayson Amos 6-4, 6-4.
Bertram explained that the uncharacteristic defeat of his team was due to their performances the day before.
“After a disappointing loss on Saturday, it was hard for the boys to re-enter the arena and spark back up,” he said.
The Broncos’ next competitor will be local opponent California State University, Sacramento.
The matches will take place on Saturday at 11 a.m. at home in the Degheri Tennis Center.
The team’s record falls to 4-4 on the season. They are 3-1 at home but 1-3 on neutral courts.
“From here we will recuperate and take as many positives from this weekend as we can,” he said. “When losing, the best thing you can do is to learn from it and push on harder than you were before.”
Contact Claire McLoughlin at camcloughlin@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.