April 15, 2006

RENO, Nev. - UC Davis held on to defeat Nevada, 4-3, Saturday afternoon in men's tennis action in Reno. The contest was a rematch of the teams' battle April 7 in Davis that resulted in a 5-2 victory for the Aggies. Once again, the Aggies would take on a short-handed Wolf Pack squad that had just five players available for the match. The win improves UC Davis to 7-12 while Nevada drops to 5-15.

UC Davis (6-13) took an early 1-0 lead by claiming the doubles point. Before play even began, the Aggies already had a win by default at No. 3. After the Wolf Pack posted a win at No. 1, the Aggies clinched the doubles point when Michael Chin and Justin Garcia defeated Milos Popovic and Max Volger, 8-6, at No. 2.

The Aggies automatically saw their lead increase to 2-0 at the start of singles with the default victory at No. 6. The margin ballooned to 3-0 when Casey McMakin defeated Volger, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 4. Nevada would not go quietly, though, as they were able to stay in the match with victories in the next two matches that finished. Popovic won at No. 2 followed by a victory by Guillaume Tonelli at No. 1 to draw UNR within 3-2.

Nevada's hopes for a victory ended as Garcia outlasted Rafal Stupka, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 3 to give UC Davis a clinching 4-2 lead. The final match to finish was at No. 5 where Eldar Dzhafarov defeated Henri Landes in three sets.

"Nevada was much tougher today at home than they were in Davis eight days ago," said UC Davis head coach Daryl Lee. "I also thought the conditions were really challenging with the altitude and an especially gusty wind."

UC Davis concludes its season April 21 when it hosts UC San Diego. The match will begin at 2 p.m. at the Marya Welch Tennis Center. It was originally scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. but has since been moved up.

Nevada 4, UC Davis 3

Singles
1. Guillaume Tonelli (UNR) d. Jayce Fitch (UCD), 6-4, 7-6.
2. Milos Popovic (UNR) d. Michael Chin (UCD), 6-0, 6-3.
3. Justin Garcia (UCD) d. Rafal Stupka (UNR), 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.
4. Eldar Dzhafarov (UNR) d. Henri Landes (UCD), 7-6, 3-6, 6-2.
5. Casey McMakin (UCD) d. Max Volger (UNR), 6-0, 6-3.
6. Kyle McMakin (UCD) won by default.

Doubles
1. Dzhafarov/Tonelli (UNR) d. Fitch/ Jordan Combs (UCD), 8-1.
2. Chin/Garcia (UCD) d. Popovic/Volger (UNR), 8-6.
3. Daniel Elefant / Jeffrey List (UCD) won be default.