By Zach DeMarcus
April 19, 2018
 
(INDIAN WELLS, Calif.) #16 Westmont Men's Tennis (8-8) was able to squeak out a 5-3 victory over #13 San Diego Christian (8-7) in today's Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal. John T. Joens won a three-match thriller at number three singles to clinch the victory for Westmont and push his team to tomorrow's championship match.
 
Doubles play showed that this match was going to be a close one from start to finish. The Hawks got on the board first as their number three team in Innocent Tidimane and Nick Bell took down Jordan Strandness and Corey Stephens 8-3.
 
The Warriors responded at number one doubles. Westmont's senior-freshman combination in Christian Mathis and Miles Hale had their match tied 6-6 against Aliaksandr Meliuk and German Ziella. The Warriors locked in and won the following two games to win the match 8-6 and tie the overall score at 1-1.
 
In the two position, Westmont's Luke Whalen and Joens were taking on Alonso Tellez and David Samardzija. With the score at 7-6 in favor of the Warriors, Joens was serving for the win. They went up 15-love, then conceded three straight points to go down 15-40. Westmont scored the next point to be one point away from deuce. Joens had a huge serve that was softly returned over the net where Whalen volleyed the ball straight down to reach deuce. The remaining two points were won by the Warriors due to unforced errors by the Hawks – giving Westmont the 8-6 win and a 2-1 advantage heading into singles play.
 
Westmont head coach Mark Basham said, "It was key getting up 2-1 in doubles. Being down 1-2 against a really talented team like this, who was highly motivated after we beat them 7-2 on Saturday, would have been tough. I'm so stoked with J.T. and Luke doing their job at number two. That was really exciting how they stepped up."
 
In singles play, Stephens added a point from the six position as he defeated Ziella 6-2, 6-1. Strandness followed with another Warrior victory at the five position as he triumphed over Bell 6-1, 6-3. This put Westmont up 4-1 – one point away from advancing to the championship match.
 
Basham said, "I'm so happy with those guys in the five and six singles. Corey didn't get to play last year that much, it's great that he's getting to be a big part of the team. Jordan stepped up and won decisively as well. Then we needed one more and I was worried about where we were going to get that one more victory to clinch the match."
 
The Hawks refused to go down without a fight. At fours, San Diego's Tidimane took down Hale 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). At twos, Meliuk was able to get past Westmont's Mathis 6-3, 6-4 – bringing the Hawks within one point of the Warriors.
 
Westmont needed either Whalen or Joens to win in order to get the victory. Tellez was just named the GSAC Player of the Year and he was facing Westmont's Whalen at ones. Joens was at threes and looked to have the best chance of earning the coveted fifth point.
 
Joens faced Samardzija where he won the first set 6-3. He then conceded the second set 3-6. Joens built a 4-1 lead in the match-deciding third set. Samardzija didn't quit as he won the next two sets to bring the score back to 4-3. Joens was serving for the win with the score at 5-3, but Samardzija earned the break point. Samardzija was unable to finish the comeback as he would lose the next game – giving Joens the 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory and sealing a trip back to the GSAC Championship match for the Warriors.
 
Basham added, "I'm really happy with J.T. he's a very confident, aggressive player. Sometimes he can lose focus, but he was able to maintain focus to win the match."
 
The Warriors won the GSAC Tournament last year and will now be back to defend their title tomorrow against the top-seeded and eleventh ranked Arizona Christian Firestorm. "I think we have to start fast and we have to play with a lot of aggression and passion in the doubles. If we're up 2-1 I think we can really do it although it is still possible if we're down 1-2. Doubles is going to set the tone and I like how we're playing doubles right now.
 
"We really don't have anything to lose but on the other hand we have a lot to win. I want us to get the win. They've beaten us 5-2 and they really beat up on us on home (8-1). I'm excited. We're going to have to play really well," finished Basham.
 
Tomorrow's championship match is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.