After a season of adjustments, tenacious wins and close losses, Cal Poly men’s tennis enters the Big West Championships with a chance to upset the top teams in the conference.
As the No. 5 seed coming into the weekend’s action, the Mustangs (8-14, 2-4 Big West) will face a gauntlet of tough Big West teams for their final test of the season, barring a bid to the NCAA Championships. Luckily, each matchup comes with the benefit of facing a familiar opponent.
Their first opponent is No. 4 seed UC San Diego (6-13, 3-3 Big West), who bested the Mustangs 4-0 in their March 2 match earlier this year. However, the scoreline doesn’t tell the full story of the two teams’ head-to-head matchup.
Before the Tritons clinched victory, junior Aaron Eliscu at line No. 6 and sophomore Sean Kamyshev at line No. 3 led in their respective singles matches.
The doubles point between the teams was also tightly contested, and the Mustangs have made some changes to their doubles lines since March.
Senior Bastiaan Weststrate and sophomore Raz Haviv partnered up late in the season at line No. 1 doubles, with Kamyshev shifting down to pair with freshman Jack Cross at line No. 2.
“We put in a lot of hours of work,” Weststrate said. “From the first moment, we worked together very well. I mean, we both have a lot of strengths that really come out in doubles.”
Weststrate and Haviv instantly found success, starting their partnership on a 3-1 run before falling in three tough matchups to finish the season. Kamyshev and Cross have likewise found sustained success, going 5-2 as a pairing.
Eliscu and sophomore Wian Roothman round out the doubles squad at line No. 3, also having a very solid season together at 4-4.
Cal Poly’s first round matchup with the Tritons will be a challenge, but the Mustangs have made many adjustments since the teams’ last faced each other.
A looming Blue-Green Rivalry
However, if Cal Poly gets through UC San Diego, they will face No. 1 seed and No. 34 nationally ranked UC Santa Barbara (17-3, 6-0 Big West).
The Mustangs and the Gauchos faced off in the final Big West matchup of each team’s season, with UC Santa Barbara handily taking the 4-0 victory.
Many factors in the Blue-Green Rivalry match need to go Cal Poly’s way for an eventual semi-final victory.
Throughout the season, the Mustangs have shown the ability to take points off of ranked teams, like in their 2-5 loss against No. 42 ranked Boise State.
Head Coach Nick Carless believes that even with the rebuilding state of the team, they have a chance in any match they compete in.
“I’m very impressed with the guys in terms of their mindset and their mentality,” Carless said. “Despite the up and downness that we’ve had this year, they’re bringing energy to the court each day. If we can keep doing that, you never know how long the season can go.”
Big West Championships action starts on Friday, April 25 at noon at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, where the Mustangs will fight for their season in the quarterfinal round.
