Cal Poly spoiled UC Davis‘ Senior Day on Saturday.
This Friday, the Aggies can spoil the Mustangs‘ season.
After losing to Sacramento State (16-6) and Cal Poly (10-9, 3-2) this weekend, the UC Davis men’s tennis team (3-15, 1-4) has its sights set on the Big West Conference tournament this week in Indian Wells, Calif.
The Aggies carry the fifth seed in the six-team tournament, placing them in a first-round rematch with Saturday’s opponent, fourth-seeded Cal Poly.
Friday – Sac State 6, UC Davis 1
The Hornets have come on strong in the race for the Causeway Cup.
They didn’t let up at all on Friday.
Sac State opened the match by sweeping doubles, and No. 3 Tyler Lee was the only Aggie to register a win in singles play of a 6-1 nonconference loss.
The Hornets‘ win gave the school a 51.68-43.34 lead in the Causeway Cup standings.
The one-two Sac State punch of Kiryl Harbatsiuk and Anton Stryhas made quick work of No. 1 Nick Lopez and No. 2 Michael Reiser, finishing them off in singles by scores of 6-1, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-1, respectively.
With the 3-0 lead in their back pocket, the Hornets‘ Marko Starcevic secured the victory at No. 5 with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Aggie freshman Chris Aria.
Lee broke the shutout in three-set action. The managerial economics major fell 6-2 in the first set but rallied back to win the second, 6-3, and closed it out with a 6-4 win. It was Lee’s 12th victory of the season, good for second on the team.
Saturday – Cal Poly 4, UC Davis 3
If Saturday’s match was any indicator, the first round of the Big West Tournament should have plenty of excitement.
UC Davis battled back from a slow start against Cal Poly to make for a suspenseful finish to its regular season in a narrow 4-3 loss to the Mustangs.
The Aggies fell behind 1-0 after dropping doubles play to the Mustangs and dug their hole deeper when Cal Poly’s Robert Foy earned the first singles victory at the No. 4 spot.
Despite the 2-0 deficit, UC Davis rebounded when senior Michael Reiser, playing at the No. 2 singles position, defeated Andrew Gerst 6-2, 6-3.
Reiser was playing with a little something extra; he was honored earlier as the lone senior on Senior Day for the Aggies.
After Nic Amaroli fell in the No. 6 match for the Aggies, it was up to the remaining three players for UC Davis to stay alive.
No. 1 Nick Lopez answered.
The sophomore escaped the first set with a 7-6 victory and then grabbed a 6-3 win to defeat Drew Jacobs and put the Aggies within one at 3-2.
With the score so close, the remaining two matches were pushed to three sets at No. 3 and No. 5.
At No. 5, Aria grinded out the victory by winning the third set, 7-5. Hunter Lee had a dramatic final set with Alexander Sonesson but fell 7-6 (3).
MATT MILLER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
