Cal Poly Men’s Tennis split its weekend matchups against UC Davis and the University of Nevada on Friday, March 31 and Sunday, April 2.
The Mustangs (5-8) end their long 14-day road trip in Davis with a convincing Sunday afternoon victory over the Nevada Wolfpack two days after falling in Big West play to the Aggies.
No. 77-ranked junior Noah Berry pushed his season-long record to 9-2 on the year and is riding a three-match singles win streak. Redshirt junior Fernando Fonseca has also been heating up with a three-match winning streak of his own to bring his record to 5-5.
Friday vs. UC Davis
The Mustangs opened up Big West play on Friday with a 5-2 loss to UC Davis.
Cal Poly battled hard, as four singles matches went the distance in three sets.
After the No. 3 Mustang doubles team freshman Aaron Eliscu and redshirt junior Joe Leather picked up a win, UC Davis stole the doubles point with a 7-5 win at line one to take a one-point advantage into singles play.
Berry took his close doubles loss to heart, as he sunk his opponent quickly, 6-2, 6-0.
Fonseca followed in Berry’s footsteps, scoring an early bagel, 6-0, in the first set. After falling in set two, Fonseca notched a 6-1 victory in the tiebreak to give Cal Poly a 2-1 lead.
However, the lead was short-lived as the Aggies responded by edging the Mustangs in the four remaining singles matches in three sets to bring the result to 5-2.
Sunday vs. Nevada
Sunday’s makeup match with the Wolfpack ended with a resilient 4-2 win for the Mustangs.
Cal Poly got off to the races, grabbing the doubles point to break a five-match doubles losing streak. The Mustangs got wins from Berry and Fonseca at line No.1 (7-5) and line No. 3 in the form of redshirt junior Ben Keyser and sophomore Bastiaan Weststrate (6-1).
Fonseca rolled along with his successful weekend, taking a 6-1, 6-2 win at the three spot to give the Mustangs a 2-0 match advantage.
After a Nevada win, Leather extended the Cal Poly lead to 3-1 following a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
Berry was the decider, and he put a dagger into the Wolfpack’s victory hopes after he secured his third straight win 6-1, 7-5 (7-5) in the one spot.
The Mustangs will now turn their attention to Big West play, as UC Riverside will come to San Luis Obispo on Wednesday, April 5 at Mustang Tennis Complex.