By Jacob Norling
April 21, 2021
 
(SAN DIEGO, Calif.) #13 San Diego Christian (10-3, 9-0 GSAC) will remain unbeaten against GSAC opponents going into the tournament championship, after sweeping Westmont (5-8, 2-4) 4-0 in the semifinals to put an end to the Warriors season.
 
In doubles play the Hawks came out swinging and the Warriors had little time to settle in. Julius Kaufmann and David Samardzija defeated Sebastian Vethan and Benjamin Saito 6-1 on court three, while Robin Van Den Hoek and Nick Nienhaus defeated Matthew Alleman and Callen Hein 6-1 on court two.
 
Logan Thompson and Ethan Ha trailed 5-3 on court one when doubles play was called.
 
"Doubles got off to a pretty poor start," said head coach Mark Basham. "Against a really talented team like that we needed to be better from the start of the match. They jumped on us and didn't look back."
 
In singles play the Hawks kept their foot on the gas and never looked back. Samardzija wasted no time with Saito on court five, defeating him 6-0, 6-1. And GSAC Player- and Freshman- of the Year Chris Papa put the Hawks up 3-0 when he took Ha down on court one by a score of 6-2, 6-4.
 
On court two, All-GSAC athlete Nick Nienhaus eliminated the Warriors from the GSAC tournament when he handed Thompson a 6-4, 6-2 loss.
 
"In singles I was happy with how a lot of our guys battled," said Basham. "Ethan tweaked his knee within the first ten minutes of that match but he fought through against one of the top players in the country.
 
"Logan and Callen both played really well also against some talented guys and all our guys battled against a really good team. I think if we played to the best of our ability with the way we compete it could've been a different match but hats off to those guys."
 
The Hawks advance to the GSAC Championship where they will take on OUAZ. San Diego Christian is looking for their first conference tournament championship in program history.
 
"It was a good opportunity after winning yesterday to show up today and play against these guys who are awfully tough to beat. I'm excited about the freshman and sophomores on our team with a couple guys we have coming in so hopefully we'll keep building and get stronger heading into next year."