A strong day of doubles play wasn’t enough as Cal Poly Men’s tennis took their second Big West loss at home against No. 45 UC Irvine, 4-1.
The Mustangs (7-11, 1-2 Big West) took an early lead against the highly ranked Anteaters (13-4, 3-0 Big West), who sport an undefeated conference record and one of two national rankings in the Big West.
Cal Poly earned the doubles point early on before falling in four singles matches to finish out the day.
Junior Aaron Eliscu and sophomore Wian Roothman began the day with a 6-3 victory at line No. 3 doubles, setting up the Mustangs for an early advantage.
The line No. 2 tandem of freshman John Cross and sophomore Sean Kamyshev secured the doubles point with another dominant 6-3 performance.
Their energy was on full display, and the duo came together at midcourt for a chest bump after their win.
“I think it was our best doubles on all three courts all year,” head coach Nick Carless said. “We’re relying on the doubles point to keep us there with good teams.”
In singles, Raz Haviv put up a strong effort in the line No. 1 match. Haviv kept pace with Irvine’s No. 59 Noah Zamora, the only ranked player on either team, before the match ended unfinished.
Losses at the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 spots sealed the defeat for the Mustangs.
Strength in doubles
The Mustangs have been putting up strong numbers in doubles play all season.
In the past four out of five matches they have taken the doubles point, a promising sign of cohesion within the team.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year was to be as improved as we possibly could by the end of the year, and I think that’s what we’re seeing,” Carless said.
Their team success bodes well for the future of men’s tennis, as underclassmen make up most of their lineup.
The only member of the top six who is set to leave next year is senior Bastiaan Weststrate, who has put up strong numbers in singles all season.
He took a loss in Sunday’s match, but his season record sits at a solid 7-8.
Final conference matchups
The Mustangs will have just two days of rest before they host their final home matchup at the Ronca Tennis Center against UC Riverside.
Three of their four remaining matches are conference matchups, which leaves the Mustangs with plenty of room to move up or down in the standings before the Big West playoffs later in April.
All seven teams make the playoffs, with season record determining seeding.
At 1-2 the Mustangs currently sit fifth, just ahead of UC Riverside and Hawaii, who are both winless.
“There’s some great chemistry going,” Carless said. “We’ve just got to keep plugging away.”