STOCKTON, Calif. — Coming off a slow start in doubles, UC Davis men's tennis stormed back to win five singles matches en route to the first victory of the dual season, defeating Pacific 5-2 at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center on Friday.
Top duo of Ivan Thamma and David Goulak returned to form with a quick 6-0 shutout victory over Philip Hjorth and Ross Watson to be the first match off the court.
Pacific rebounded with a quick win of their own at No. 2, before clinching the doubles point with a 6-3 win on the third court. Little did the Tigers know, but it would be their one and only lead of the day.
In singles play, Arjith Jayaraman kicked off a string of Aggie singles wins, cleaning out at No. 5 with an efficient 6-2, 6-2 win over Nathan Hampton to tie the overall match score at 1-1.
Following suit, Goulak took the first set 6-2, and staved off a comeback by Pacific's Akram El Sallaly to take the second set in a dominant tiebreaker for a 2-1 UC Davis lead. Goulak was the only Aggie to finish the day undefeated.
Putting the Aggies within one match of an overall victory, freshman Andrei Volgin survived a straight-set 7-5, 7-5 win over Coby McCaig.
With the final three matches on the court in a third and final set, Pacific garnered their lone singles win of the day at No. 1 from senior Watson over UC Davis' Thamma, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
The match-clinching win came down to Chethan Swanson and Brett Brinkman on courts No. 3 and 6, respectively. The two raced to be the first match off, but it was Brinkman who overcame a 2-6, 1-3 deficit to win the second set in a tiebreaker, and broke open the third set with five straight games to clinch 6-1 in the third.
Swanson rounded out the singles wins with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2 win over Tadiwa Chinamo to bring the team score to 5-2 in favor of the Aggies.
Both freshmen, Volgin and Brinkman, recorded their first dual singles wins of their Aggie careers.
UC Davis returns to action next Thursday at San Francisco, competing at the Cal Club at noon, before returning for a home opener doubleheader against UTSA and Sonoma State on Saturday, Jan. 25.
UC Davis 5, Pacific 2
Jan. 17, 2020
Stockton, Calif. // Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center
Doubles
1. David Goulak/Ivan Thamma (UCD) def. Ross Watson/Phil Hjorth (PAC) 6-0
2. Tadiwa Chinamo/Akram El Sallaly (PAC) def. Arjith Jayaraman/Andrei Volgin (UCD) 6-0
3. Nathan Hampton/John Horoz (PAC) def. Dariush Jalali/Daniel Landa (UCD) 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*
Singles
1. Ross Watson (PAC) def. Ivan Thamma (UCD) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
2. David Goulak (UCD) def. Akram El Sallaly (PAC) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
3. Chethan Swanson (UCD) def. Tadiwa Chinamo (PAC) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-2
4. Andrei Volgin (UCD) def. Coby McCraig (PAC) 7-5, 7-5
5. Arjith Jayaraman (UCD) def. Nathan Hampton (PAC) 6-2, 6-2
6. Brett Brinkman (UCD) def. John Horoz (PAC) 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
Order of Finish: 5, 2, 4, 1, 6*, 3
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