STANFORD, Calif. — UC Davis men's tennis split its doubleheader on Friday, defeating Holy Names before falling to No. 6 Stanford in a match much tighter than the score suggests.

In their second meeting of the season, the Aggies dispatched Holy Names 6-1, after the initial match was canceled due to darkness. UC Davis made quick work of the doubles point, with nearly all three of the matches finishing at the same time by identical 6-2 scores. Mitchell Iwahiro saw action in singles play for the first time this dual season, and was the first off the court with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 6. Daniel Landa and Alex Scemanenco quickly followed suit to give the Aggies the 4-0 clinch. David Goulak and Nil Giraldez each left the court with a victory in the top-two spots in the lineup to give the Aggies the 6-1 victory.

In a short turnaround, UC Davis took on the sixth-ranked Cardinal, and gave the Pac-12 team a run for its money. Stanford took No. 3 doubles by a 6-3 score, before Goulak and Ivan Thamma responded with their 15th overall win this year, and the seventh at the No. 1 position, over Axel Geller and Alexandre Rotsaert 6-3. All eyes turned to Landa and Scemanenco, who saved break points to force the Card to serve out the doubles point at 5-4. This was the first time this season that the Aggies have lost the doubles point.

Moving into singles play, Stanford won the matches on courts four and five for a 3-0 team lead, but UC Davis was not done. Goulak and Landa each won the first set but dropped the second in their matches against No. 31 Sameer Kumar and Kento Perera, respectively. Thamma rebounded after losing the first set to No. 39 Rotsaert to take the second 6-1, while Giraldez steadily ground away at Michael Genender throughout the second set.

The fiery Spaniard stayed on serve in the second, fending off two match points at 4-5 to eventually force a tiebreaker, while the three other matches were fighting in a third set. Unfortunately, even though Thamma was able to save three match points, Rotsaert finished strong, and clinched the match for the Card at 4-0. Giraldez held a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker, looking to force a third set, while Goulak was down 2-3 and Landa was up 3-2 in the third when the match was stopped at the clinch.

The Aggies will remain on the road next week, playing at San Diego State on Thursday at 10 AM, while simultaneously competing in the prestigious Pac Coast Doubles Championships in La Jolla, Calif. all next weekend.

UC Davis 6, Holy Names 1
February 22, 2019
Oakland, Calif.

Doubles
1. David Goulak/Ivan Thamma (UCD) def. Hugo Colpart/Alex Vinee-Munoz (HNU) 6-2
2. Alex Scemanenco/Daniel Landa (UCD) def. Valentin Baranyi/John Giesberts (HNU) 6-2
3. Dariush Jalali/Chethan Swanson (UCD) def. Javier Luque/Philip Achenbach (HNU) 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3*, 1

Singles
1. David Goulak (UCD) def. Alex Vinee-Monuz (HNU) 6-4, 6-3
2. Nil Giraldez (UCD) def. Hugo Colpart (HNU) 6-1, 2-6, 1-0(9)
3. Alex Scemanenco (UCD) def. John Giesberts (HNU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Valentin Baranyi (HNU) def. Dariush Jalali (UCD) 6-7(4), 6-3, 1-0(7)
5. Daniel Landa (UCD) def. Javier Luque (HNU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Mitchell Iwahiro (UCD) def. Philip Achenbach (HNU) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 3*, 1, 2, 4


UC Davis 0, Stanford 4
February 22, 2019
Stanford, Calif.

Doubles
1. David Goulak/Ivan Thamma (UCD) def. Axel Geller/Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN) 6-3
2. Sameer Kumar/Timothy Sah (STAN) def. Daniel Landa/Alex Scemanenco (UCD) 6-4
3. Jack Barber/William Genesen (STAN) def. Dariush Jalali/Chethan Swanson (UCD) 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*

Singles
1. No. 39 Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN) def. Ivan Thamma (UCD) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
2. David Goulak (UCD) vs. No. 31 Kumar (STAN) 6-3, 2-6, 2-3
3. Nil Giraldez (UCD) vs. Michael Genender (STAN) 1-6, 6-6 (6-5)
4. Timothy Sah (STAN) def. Chethan Swanson (UCD) 6-1, 6-1
5. Jack Barber (STAN) def. Arjith Jayaraman (UCD) 6-0, 6-4
6. Daniel Landa (UCD) vs. Kento Perera (STAN) 6-4, 3-6, 3-2
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1*

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