March 1, 2008

MORAGA, Calif. - UC Davis was defeated by Saint Mary's, 6-1, Saturday afternoon in non-conference men's tennis action at the Timothy Korth Tennis Complex. In a peculiar match, the Aggies swept doubles before the Gaels won all six singles matches. The loss drops the Aggies to 6-6 on the year while the Gaels improved to 7-3.

Daniel Elefant and Michael Reiser started the doubles momentum at No. 2 with an 8-3 win over Marek Dvorak and Matt Welty. Moments later at No. 3, UC Davis clinched the first point of the match when Nic Amaroli and Kevin Liang defeated Youssef El Bouzkouri and Lucas Tirelli, 8-6. The final Aggies' win came at No. 1 doubles where Justin Garcia and Henri Landes defeated Gerald Ellison and Andrea Zannoni, 8-7.

The first singles match to finish was at No. 2 as Tirelli defeated Reiser, 6-1, 6-1, allowing Saint Mary's to tie the match at 1-1. El Bouzkouri then defeated Tyler Lee, 6-4, 7-6 (5) at No. 6 to put the Gaels in front.

At No. 1, Joel Kusnierz defeated Landes, 6-2, 7-6 (3), to put Saint Mary's within one point from clinching the overall victory. That happened at No. 4 as Zannoni outlasted Garcia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to put Saint Mary's on top, 4-1. The final two matches also went to the Gaels.

UC Davis is next in action March 8 when it hosts Swarthmore. The Aggies will face Sonoma State the next day in a match rescheduled from Feb. 24 due to rain.

Saint Mary's 6, UC Davis 1

Singles
1. Joel Kusnierz (SMC) d. Henri Landes (UCD), 6-2, 7-6 (3).
2. Lucas Tirelli (SMC) d. Michael Reiser (UCD), 6-1, 6-1.
3. Marek Dvorak (SMC) d. Justin Garcia (UCD), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
4. Andrea Zannoni (SMC) d. Nick Lopez (UCD), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
5. Achim Christner (SMC) d. Daniel Elefant (UCD), 7-5, 7-6 (7).
6. Youssef El Bouzkouri (SMC) d. Tyler Lee (UCD), 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Doubles
1. Garcia/Landes (UCD) d. Gerald Ellison/Zannoni (SMC), 8-7.
2. Elefant/Reiser (UCD) d. Dvorak/Matt Welty (SMC), 8-3.
3. Nic Amaroli / Kevin Liang (UCD) d. Bouzkouri/Tirelli (SMC), 8-6.