Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Pepperdine
Men's Tennis Falls to No. 8 Pepperdine 6-1
4/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 6, 2005
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State men's tennis team began its two-match Southern California road trip with a 6-1 loss at the hands of eighth-ranked Pepperdine on Wednesday afternoon at the Ralphs-Strauss Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif.
The Bulldogs (9-8) only point of the dual came at No. 4 singles, where Andy Sinn topped Richard Johnson when Johnson had to retire at 5-5 of the first set due to illness. The illness kept Johnson out of the doubles lineup, where he is usually a fixture at No. 3.
Pepperdine (17-2), enjoying its best season since 2002, won its 11th in a row and improved to 12-0 at home. The Waves won in straight sets in five of the six singles matches, dropping only one game each at Nos. 1 and 5.
The Bulldogs also picked up a victory at No. 2 doubles when Nicolas Mascheroni and Charles Irie topped Jonas Berg and Ivor Lovrak 8-5. But wins at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles gave Pepperdine the point and a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
"Pepperdine is definitely the best team we have played this year," head coach Jay Udwadia said. "I really think they have an outside shot of winning the national title. We got some good individual performances at certain spots, but overall we just lost to a better team, plain and simple. But it was good for the guys to see a very high level of play. Pepperdine is at the level we eventually want to build our program to."
The Waves upset second-ranked Illinois last month and in February were narrowly defeated 4-3 to top-ranked and defending champion Baylor.
The Bulldogs have now lost eight in a row to the Waves and are 2-13 all-time, with the lone two victories coming in 1996. That was Fresno State's best season ever, when the team was led by NCAA Singles runner-up Fredrik Bergh, Fredrik Giers and Bryan Juinio, achieving a No. 5 national ranking and reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Next up for the Bulldogs is a match Thursday at 26th-ranked San Diego, which will begin at 12:30 p.m. It is a make-up from a contest that was postponed Feb. 20 due to rain.
No. 8 Pepperdine def. No. 60 Fresno State, 6-1
Doubles (Pepperdine wins point)
1) #9 Doerner/Rico (Pepp) def. Modoc/Cech (FS), 8-2
2) Mascheroni/Irie (FS) def. Berg/Lovrak (Pepp), 8-5
3) Borzenski/Rafidison (Pepp) def. Sinn/Gibbs (FS), 8-3
Order of completion: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1) #46 Scott Doerner (Pepp) def. Jakub Cech (FS), 6-1, 6-0
2) #13 Pedro Rico (Pepp) def. Sergiu Modoc (FS), 7-6 (4), 6-2
3) Jonas Berg (Pepp) def. Charles Irie (FS), 6-2, 6-1
4) Andy Sinn (FS) def. Richard Johnson (Pepp), 5-5 retired (illness)
5) Ivor Lovrak (Pepp) def. Sam Gibbs (FS), 6-1, 6-0
6) Alexis Rafidison (Pepp) def. Sam Tadevosian (FS), 6-1, 6-2
Order of completion: 5, 4, 6, 1, 3, 2
Records: Fresno State (9-8); Pepperdine (17-2)
Players Mentioned
