The Cal Poly men’s tennis program celebrated senior day Friday by taking down the University of Hawai’i 4-3 to remain undefeated in the Big West and in first place in the conference.
The Mustangs (13-8, 4-0 BWC) started the match by taking the doubles point over the Rainbow Warriors (7-11, 1-3 BWC). Cal Poly’s No. 3 pairing of sophomores Roman Shenkiryk and Andrew Whitehouse won their match 6-4 before the No. 2 pairing of freshman Gary Vardanyan and junior Antoine Noel clinched the point with a 6-4 win. With the wins, Vardanyan and Noel are now a team-best 9-3 on the season while Whitehouse and Shenkiryk improved their record to 4-1 as a pair.
Once the match moved to singles, Shenkiryk won the Mustangs’ second point of the day after a 6-1, 6-4 victory at the No. 6 position. Hawai’i then tied the score at 2-2 after wins at the Nos. 2 and 3 spots.
Senior Josh Ortlip then gave Cal Poly a 3-2 lead after a 7-6 (10), 6-1 win at the No. 1 position. Later, the Mustangs’ other senior, Dominic Bechard clinched the match for Cal Poly after a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 win at the No. 5 spot.’
The win for Ortlip pushed his winning streak to seven matches and improved his dual match record to a team-best 14-5 this season.
The victory also finished the team’s home record at 8-1 this season. This now sets up a match at rival UC Santa Barbara Saturday to decide the Big West regular season title. The Gauchos (12-6, 3-0 BWC) have won the regular season title the past three seasons. Saturday’s start time in Goleta is scheduled for 10 a.m.
–Provided by Cal Poly
