Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UC Santa Barbara
Bulldogs Win Sixth Straight, Beat Gauchos 6-1
4/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 7, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State men's tennis team is on a roll, winning its sixth straight match after defeating UC Santa Barbara 6-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Wathen Tennis Center. The Bulldogs honored seniors Jakub Cech and Charles Irie while treating a large crowd to an entertaining victory. The `Dogs won all three doubles matches and were victorious in five of six singles contests to earn their 10th victory of the year.
"It feels good to be on the winning track right now," said head coach Jay Udwadia. "It was an emotional day and I was glad to see our seniors play well. We've got a lot of confidence right now."
Playing in the last home match of their careers, Cech and Irie did not disappoint. Irie clinched the match with a well-played 6-2, 6-2 win over Jack Hui. It was Irie's sixth straight win and team-best 20th win overall. Cech used a dominating serve in his 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 defeat of Bejan Hejazi to cap Fresno State's victory. Cech won his fifth straight and improved to 8-1 in three-set matches this year.
"The experience here at Fresno State has been the best stage of my life," Irie said. "I've grown as a person and learned so much from so many good people."
Both Cech and Irie will finish their careers with more than 100 combined wins each in singles and doubles.
"Playing tennis and attending a university for 10 months out of the year is definitely a great experience," Cech said. "I've become a much more organized person and I've grown tremendously in these four years."
Cech now owns 68 career singles wins, which ties him for 16th all-time in Fresno State history. Last year, Cech was the WAC Player of the Year and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. This season, Cech won the prestigious ITA Northwest Regional title by winning five straight matches.
Along with Cech and Irie, the Bulldogs won three more in singles. Freshman Flavio Mollinedo got back on track with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Nigel Barton. Freshman Mirko Zapletal won in straight sets, defeating Philip Therp 6-2, 7-5 after trailing 5-4 in the second. Sophomore Rudolf Siwy also trialed 5-4 in the second set, but rallied to win three straight games and defeated Anders Dalskov 6-1, 7-5.
The Bulldogs will now head to Boise, Idaho, to take on Utah State on April 13 and Boise State on April 14.
NCAA Men's Tennis
April 7, 2007
Wathen Tennis Center - Fresno, Calif.
No. 66 Fresno State def. UC Santa Barbara, 6-1
Doubles (Fresno State wins doubles point)
1) Cech/Zapletal (FS) def. Hejazi/Hui (UCSB), 8-3
2) Irie/Veerepalli (FS) def. Dalskov/Robertson (UCSB), 8-7 (3)
3) Leiby/Siwy (FS) def. Barton/Finkelstein (UCSB), 8-4
Order of completion: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1) No. 70 Jakub Cech (FS) def. Bijan Hejazi (UCSB), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
2) Rudolf Siwy (FS) def. Anders Dalskov (UCSB), 6-1, 7-5
3) Mirko Zapletal (FS) def. Philip Therp (UCSB), 6-2, 7-5
4) Charles Irie (FS) def. Jack Hui (UCSB), 6-2, 6-2
5) Josh Finkelstein (UCSB) def. Tejesvi Veerepalli (FS), 6-1, 6-1
6) Flavio Mollinedo (FS) def. Nigel Barton (UCSB), 6-2, 6-3
Order of completion: 5, 6, 3, 4, 2, 1
Records: Fresno State (10-7); UC Santa Barbara (3-15)
