Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
California
Dogs Conclude Season in Second Round
5/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 14, 2011
FRESNO, Calif. - No. 38 Fresno State men's tennis team concluded a triumphant 2010-11 season against the 14th-seeded California, 4-3 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Berkeley, Calif. Saturday evening. The Dogs started the evening off clinching the doubles point to make for an early lead into singles and earned wins on courts two and five in singles.
"Amazing effort from our guys," said head coach Jay Udwadia. "The match could have gone either way."
No. 15 Remi Boutillier and Rikus de Villiers were the first tandem to finish up, as they defeated the Golden Bears' No. 23 ranked doubles team Nick Andrews and Christoffer Konigsfeldt, 8-4. The Dogs duo Jean-Charles Diame and Francis Alcantara clinched the doubles point by defeating California's number two team, Ben McLachlan and Pedro Zerbini, 9-7.
California pulled ahead in singles, earning victories on courts three, four, and one giving the Golden Bears' a 3-1 lead over the Dogs.
Junior Boutillier pushed the No. 64 singles player in the country Carlos Cueto to three sets. The No. 108 singles player Boutillier took the first set to his advantage, 6-4 but fell in the second, 6-7 (7-2). Keeping his focus in tact the Bulldog took the lead in the third set and earned the win, 6-3. Upping the score to 3-2.
On court five, freshman Nick Papac came up short in the first set against California's Bozhidar Katsaroy, 5-7 but battled back in the second set, 6-4 and tied up the match. In the third set the freshman from Fresno pushed to a tiebreaker and earned the Dogs final point in the day defeating Katsaroy, 7-6 (7-4).
Coming down to the final match in the day, David Ayoun wrestled each point against California's Riki McLachlan in hopes to clinch the match for the Dogs. Victory came to Ayoun in the first set, 7-5 but wasn't as successful in the second set falling, 4-6. In the third and final set, McLachlan pulled ahead and earned the win, 6-4.
"We played our best tennis at the end of our season," said Udwadia. "It took a great California team to beat us."
As a team, the Dogs earned a WAC Tournament Championship title, competed in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and defeated nine ranked teams.
The Golden Bears advance to the Sweet 16 with the victory.
Fresno State's doubles pair of de Villiers and Boutillier's season will continue as the duo will compete in the NCAA Doubles Championships on May 25-30 in Stanford, Calif.
2011 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships
Second Round
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Hellman Tennis Complex | Berkeley, Calif.
No. 15 California 4, No. 38 Fresno State 3
Doubles
1. No. 15 Boutillier/de Villiers (FS) def. No. 23 Andrews/Konigsfeldt (CAL), 8-4
2. Diame/Alcantara (FS) def. McLachlan/Zerbini (CAL), 7-9
3. No. 87 Cueto/Dahan (CAL) vs. Alapati/Papac (FS), 7-5 DNF
Order of Finish: 1, 2*
Singles
1. No. 20 Pedro Zerbini (CAL) def. Rikus de Villiers (FS), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
2. No. 108 Remi Boutillier (FS) def. No. 64 Carlos Cueto (CAL), 6-4, 6-7 (7-2), 6-3
3. No. 96 Nick Andrews (CAL) def. Jean-Charles Diame (FS), 6-1, 6-1
4. Christoffer Konigsfeldt (CAL) def. Francis Alcantara (FS), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
5. Nick Papac (FS) def. Bozhidar Katsarov (CAL), 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Riki McLachlan (CAL) def. David Ayoun (FS), 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 6*
"We Are Your Team!"- Doubles team No. 15 Rikus de Villiers and Remi Boutillier will represent Fresno State in the NCAA Doubles Championship on May 25-30 in Stanford, Calif. For all the up to date information on Fresno State men's tennis stay logged on to gobulldogs.com.
Players Mentioned
