Fresno State Athletics
Men's Tennis: Fall Recap
12/6/2017 12:03:00 PM | Men's Tennis
FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State men's tennis team finished a successful fall season. The Bulldogs, who finished second in the Mountain West during the 2017 season, look to continue their success in 2018. Under the leadership of third-year head coach Luke Shields, Fresno State brought home four tournament titles this fall. The four tournament titles are the most for the Bulldogs in more than five years.
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"This was definitely our best fall that we've had in a long time here," said head coach Luke Shields. "Our guys had a really good development period in early September that allowed for some good results in tournaments. Our new guys, Cem and Cagatay, have brought great energy to our team. We have a great core group of guys that are committed to being consistent with their work everyday, so it allows for a really healthy culture. I'm really happy with the growth of this squad. We have a great base and we are brewing up for something special this year."
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The 'Dogs returned eight players in Xander Veys, Zdenek Derkas, Jeremy Moser, Henrique Osorio, Mantas Bugailiskis, Patrik Pech, Youssef Hassan and Bailey Gong. Fresno State added two newcomers in Cem Erturk and Cagatay Soke.
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Fresno State kicked off the fall season with the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Arizona. Moser brought home the 'Dogs first title of the year, winning the Cardinal Singles Draw. The junior defeated No. 3 seed Jan Kirchhoff of San Diego State, No. 6 seed Mathieu Rajaonah, Valentine Lang of Grand Canyon University and Trent Botha of Arizona. This was Fresno State's first tournament title in more than five years.
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The 'Dogs took home a pair of titles from the UCSB Classic. Erturk brought home the singles Flight B title in his Bulldog debut. He defeated Piers Foley of Washington in the championship round in three sets (6-2, 5-7, 6-3) after defeating Axel Damiens of Cal Poly (6-4, 6-1), Kento Perera of Stanford (6-1, 6-1) and Bryce Pereira of UCLA (6-3, 6-2).
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Soke won the singles Flight C championship at the UCSB Classic. He defeated Joseph Rotherman of UCSB in a three set tiebreaker (6-4, 1-6, 7-5 (4)) after defeating Diego Nava of LMU in three sets (6-4, 4-6, 6-3), Can Kaya of Cal (7-6, 6-4) and Jackson Suh of Cal (7-5,6-2).
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Fresno State continued its fall season with the ITA Regionals in Stockton, Calif. Derkas pulled off quite the comeback after losing his first match of the tournament in the round of 128, he won five straight matches to win the consolation draw. He defeated Martin Bats of Eastern Washington in the first round. 6-2, 6-3. He received a second round bye. In the third round, Derkas bested Alexis Alvarez of Washington in straight sets (7-5, 6-1). He defeated Santa Clara's Sebastian Mathieu 6-2, 6-2. He beat Ethan Young-Smith of Oregon in the quarterfinal round (6-4, 6-7(4), 1-0(6)). The sophomore defeated Washington's Piers Foleys in a close match (7-6(4), 6-4) in the semifinals. Derkas was set to play in the championship, but his opponent defaulted. Derkas brought hope the Bulldogs' fourth title of the fall.
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Fresno State will open its 2018 season with a doubleheader at home on Saturday, Jan. 13. The Bulldogs will face Pacific at 10 a.m. PT and UC Davis at 6 p.m. PT.Â
Fall Results:Â
  Name                                   Singles    DoublesÂ
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"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" - The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
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"This was definitely our best fall that we've had in a long time here," said head coach Luke Shields. "Our guys had a really good development period in early September that allowed for some good results in tournaments. Our new guys, Cem and Cagatay, have brought great energy to our team. We have a great core group of guys that are committed to being consistent with their work everyday, so it allows for a really healthy culture. I'm really happy with the growth of this squad. We have a great base and we are brewing up for something special this year."
Â
The 'Dogs returned eight players in Xander Veys, Zdenek Derkas, Jeremy Moser, Henrique Osorio, Mantas Bugailiskis, Patrik Pech, Youssef Hassan and Bailey Gong. Fresno State added two newcomers in Cem Erturk and Cagatay Soke.
Â
Fresno State kicked off the fall season with the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Arizona. Moser brought home the 'Dogs first title of the year, winning the Cardinal Singles Draw. The junior defeated No. 3 seed Jan Kirchhoff of San Diego State, No. 6 seed Mathieu Rajaonah, Valentine Lang of Grand Canyon University and Trent Botha of Arizona. This was Fresno State's first tournament title in more than five years.
Â
The 'Dogs took home a pair of titles from the UCSB Classic. Erturk brought home the singles Flight B title in his Bulldog debut. He defeated Piers Foley of Washington in the championship round in three sets (6-2, 5-7, 6-3) after defeating Axel Damiens of Cal Poly (6-4, 6-1), Kento Perera of Stanford (6-1, 6-1) and Bryce Pereira of UCLA (6-3, 6-2).
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Soke won the singles Flight C championship at the UCSB Classic. He defeated Joseph Rotherman of UCSB in a three set tiebreaker (6-4, 1-6, 7-5 (4)) after defeating Diego Nava of LMU in three sets (6-4, 4-6, 6-3), Can Kaya of Cal (7-6, 6-4) and Jackson Suh of Cal (7-5,6-2).
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Fresno State continued its fall season with the ITA Regionals in Stockton, Calif. Derkas pulled off quite the comeback after losing his first match of the tournament in the round of 128, he won five straight matches to win the consolation draw. He defeated Martin Bats of Eastern Washington in the first round. 6-2, 6-3. He received a second round bye. In the third round, Derkas bested Alexis Alvarez of Washington in straight sets (7-5, 6-1). He defeated Santa Clara's Sebastian Mathieu 6-2, 6-2. He beat Ethan Young-Smith of Oregon in the quarterfinal round (6-4, 6-7(4), 1-0(6)). The sophomore defeated Washington's Piers Foleys in a close match (7-6(4), 6-4) in the semifinals. Derkas was set to play in the championship, but his opponent defaulted. Derkas brought hope the Bulldogs' fourth title of the fall.
Â
Fresno State will open its 2018 season with a doubleheader at home on Saturday, Jan. 13. The Bulldogs will face Pacific at 10 a.m. PT and UC Davis at 6 p.m. PT.Â
Fall Results:Â
  Name                                   Singles    DoublesÂ
| Â Mantas Bugailiskis | 4-2Â | Â 2-4 |
| Â Zdenek Derkas | 11-3Â Â Â | 3-3 |
|  Cem Erturk   | 9-3 | 4-4 |
|  Bailey Gong | 2-4 | 3-1 |
| Â Youssef Hassan | 3-4 | 2-2 |
|  Jeremy Moser | 7-7 | 2-6 |
| Â Henrique Osorio | 8-7 | 1-3 |
| Â Patrik Pech | 3-3 | 3-1 |
| Â Cagatay Soke | 10-4 | 5-5 |
| Â Xander Veys | 1-1 | 1-1 |
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"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" - The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
Players Mentioned
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