Senior Marco Comuzzo lost to Pepperdine’s Alex Sarkissian in a singles match on Sunday. The Mustangs lost 6-1 to drop to 0-6 on the season.
Rafael Salinas
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The Cal Poly men’s tennis team fell 4-1 to Pepperdine in a non-conference match on Sunday. With the loss, the Mustangs fell to 0-6 for the season.
Cal Poly won the doubles point thanks to wins by teams Devin Barber/Corey Pang and Naveen Beasley/Ben Donovan. But the Mustangs would surrender each of their singles points to remain winless for the season.
Feb. 1 vs. Nevada
In its first home match of the season, the Cal Poly men’s tennis team lost 6-1 to Nevada on Saturday.
The afternoon began with doubles matches as Pang and Barber lost theirs 8-2, while Donovan and Beasley lost their match by the same mark. Marco Comuzzo and Matt Thomson were in the midst of a dramatic 6-6 tie when play was suspended because of the other two team’s losses.
“We did not produce as well as we wanted in the doubles match,” freshman Ben Donovan said.
The lone victor was senior Jurgen De Jager, who looked impressive in his 6-2, 6-2 straight set victory.
The Mustangs looked much more competitive in their singles matches, but came up just short in several drawn-out matches.
“Especially in our first home match, we want a lot of energy and a lot of momentum,” junior Devin Barber said.
Comuzzo, a senior, competed in a difficult three-set loss that went to a tiebreaker in the final set. He lost by a score of 5-7, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
“He’s got to be willing to play those points more aggressively,” head coach Nick Carless said. “Especially in those tough moments, he’s got to be willing to take the point to his opponent.”
Donovan also drove his match to three sets, but couldn’t carry the momentum from his first set, which was close throughout. He lost his match by a score of 7-5, 5-7, 3-6.
Pang also battled and narrowly lost his last set 4-6, which followed a hotly contested 7-6 victory in the second set. The final scoreline for his match was 2-6, 7-6, 4-6.
“I thought we competed really well,” Carless said. “I think the guys are playing better tennis for the most part. We’ve just got to be able to compete, and during the tighter moments we’ve got execute our style of play a little bit better.”
The Mustangs were able to put themselves in positions to win, but failed to finish their matches and instead gave the Wolf Pack opportunities on which they capitalized.
“It’s time to turn this thing around; I’m pretty proud of the effort in the singles,” Barber said. “Our team chemistry is our biggest strength, supporting each other; being there for each other court to court is our biggest strength.”
The Mustangs are coming off six consecutive losses to open their season and are now heading into a more difficult portion of their schedule, according to Carless.
“We’ve got two Pac-12 schools coming, we’ve got Arizona,” Carless said. “We’ve got to keep our head down and keep working, keep working, keep working.”