DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis men's tennis dropped the doubles point, but stormed back to win every singles match to defeat Saint Mary's 6-1 at the Marya Welch Tennis Center on Saturday.
Saint Mary's claimed the doubles match on court two with a 6-2 win, but both remaining matches were pushed to a tiebreaker, leaving the doubles point hanging in the balance. Felipe Rincon/Abhishek Bastola (SMC) just edged out Dariush Jalali/Chethan Swanson at No. 3, 7-5 in the tiebreaker to clinch the doubles point when Ivan Thamma and David Goulak were tied at 4-4 in their respective tiebreaker on the top court.
Finding themselves in a familiar deficit, the Aggies raced out to a 2-1 lead with quick wins from Goulak and Jayaraman. Goulak defeated Rincon 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 to be the first match off, tying the overall score, followed by Jayaraman's 6-3, 6-1 win over Reckow to be the go-ahead match from No. 6.
The duo have now recorded four dual wins apiece, with Jayaraman tying Jesse Ross at No. 2 all-time for wins at No. 6 singles with 12 career victories, and needs just three more to tie the school record.
Andrei Volgin battled through the first set against Matis Bot, winning it in a tiebreaker 7-4, before rolling through the second 6-1 to bring the Aggies within one of the official four-match threshold. Volgin moves to 18-5 on the year with the win, and 4-1 in dual play to be two out of making the all-time top-10 for single-season singles wins (18).
Recording the first clinch of his career, Andras Necz bageled Karlo Divkovic in the first set, and toughed out the second for a 6-0, 6-4 clinching win.
After the clinch, Swanson picked up a win with a second set tiebreaker, moving to 5-1 on the year in duals, while Thamma earned his second win at No. 1 to tie James Wade for No. 3 all-time in wins at the top of the lineup.
With the 6-1 result, the Aggies move to 4-2 on the year, and have won the last three consecutive matches. UC Davis will be on the road next week with contests at UNLV and a neutral-site match against Weber State next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 14-15.
UC Davis 6, Saint Mary's 1
February 8, 2020
Davis, Calif.
Doubles
1. David Goulak/Ivan Thamma (UCD) vs. James Watt/Boris Reckow (SMC) 6-6 (4-4), unfinished
2. Matis Bot/Karlo Divkovic (SMC) def. Daniel Landa/Andrei Volgin (UCD) 6-2
3. Felipe Rincon/Abhishek Bastola (SMC) def. Dariush Jalali/Chethan Swanson (UCD) 7-6(5)
Order of Finish: 2, 3*
Singles
1. Ivan Thamma (UCD) def. James Watt (SMC) 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2
2. David Goulak (UCD) def. Felipe Rincon (SMC) 6-2, 6-1
3. Andras Necz (UCD) def. Karlo Divkovic (SMC) 6-0, 6-4
4. Chethan Swanson (UCD) def. Abhishek Bastola (SMC) 6-2, 7-6(2)
5. Andrei Volgin (UCD) def. Matis Bot (SMC) 7-6(4), 6-1
6. Arjith Jayaraman (UCD) def. Boris Reckow (SMC) 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: 2, 6, 5, 3*, 4, 1
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