On Saturday, the Cal Poly men’s tennis team (4-6) kicked off the season’s longest stint of consecutive home matches by beating Fresno State 7-0.
With only five players in their lineup, the Bulldogs forfeited the No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles positions, providing the Mustangs with an advantage from the start.
Cal Poly’s number one doubles team, juniors Ben Donovan and Corey Pang, seized the doubles point right away upon beating Jakob Keppelmann and Euan McIntosh 6-2. Donovan and Pang currently lead the team in doubles victories, claiming five wins at the top position.
Though some courts appeared to be close in score, the Mustangs captured all five singles matches. Junior Garrett Auproux beat Mantas Bugailiskis at No. 2, 6-4, 6-4 and at No. 3, Pang won in straight sets over Jeremy Moser, 6-4, 6-2.
The Mustangs led 3-0 and only needed one more singles win to seal the victory. Freshman Josh Ortlip remained focused during a tight matchup to beat Patrik Pech at No. 4, 6-4, 7-6. Ortlip not only decided the match for the Mustangs, but also earned his fifth individual singles win of the season. Ortlip trails Pang by one for the most dual singles victories on the team.
The remaining two singles matches, Donovan at No. 1 and sophomore Axel Damiens at No. 5, were pushed to three sets. Harnessing his teammates’ success and positive energy, Damiens came out on top against Keppelmann 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Despite dropping his first set, Donovan followed suit and came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 over McIntosh.
The Cal Poly men’s tennis team continues play on Sunday at 12 p.m. against No. 68 Pacific. Pacific is the Mustangs’ seventh nationally ranked opponent this season.