Bouncing back from Saturday’s tough loss at San Diego, the Cal Poly men’s tennis team picked up a 5-2 win over Santa Clara on Monday, improving its record to 4-3.
The Mustangs dominated, sweeping all three doubles matches and dropping only two of six singles matches.
“We used San Diego as a learning experience,” said Cal Poly sophomore Robert Foy. “We’ve been working really hard in doubles and it showed today.”
At the No. 1 doubles position, Joel Akerberg and Blake Wardman recorded an 8-4 win against Senthil Chidambaram and Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong.
Foy and Darryn Young snagged a win in the No. 2 position, defeating John Iwanski and Justin Wong 8-1, while Nick Berger and Andrew Gerst chalked up an 8-1 victory over Charlie Burke and Jay Wong.
Young and Foy’s victory improved their dual record to 5-2.
In singles, Akerberg and Wardman both walked away with wins, as did teammates Drew Jacobs, who beat Justin Wong 6-1, 6-1, and Alexander Sonesson, who vanquished Iwanski 6-2, 6-2.
“We came out really high-energy today,” Foy said.
That energy is something he believes the Mustangs will have to maintain in order to stay on the winning track.
Jay Wong improved his singles record to 5-1 on the season with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Gerst. The victory came one day after he suffered his first singles loss at the hands of Fresno State.
Cal Poly’s dominance was in stark contrast to Saturday’s meeting with the Toreros, against whom the Mustangs’ inability to pick up the doubles point was costly.
San Diego clinched doubles play by immediately picking up victories in the No. 1 and No. 2 slots. The two teams split singles evenly.
Cal Poly’s sole doubles win came from Berger and Gerst, who topped Charl Wolmarans and Tamar Antabi 9-8 (4).
The Mustangs will return to action at Mustang Courts for the first time since Jan. 19 at noon Saturday against Sonoma State.