Box Score By Jacob Norling
March 19, 2022
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) On Friday, Westmont Men's Tennis (4-5, 4-1 GSAC) delayed the inevitable with a dramatic win against OUAZ, but on Saturday, Arizona Christian (7-6, 3-1 GSAC) became the first GSAC team to get the best of the Warriors this season.
 
In their first matchup since the 2021 GSAC Quarterfinals, the Firestorm defeated the Warriors 6-1 in Santa Barbara.
 
In doubles play, Logan Thompson and Ethan Ha continued their dominant run with a 7-6 (3) win over Anthony Popyrin and Jonas Wand. Unfortunately for Westmont, it was the only doubles match the Firestorm surrendered.
 
On court two, Joseph Hemry and Owen Vander Ark fell to Jose Dominguez and Andres Vasquez 6-4, and on court three, Benny Saito and Santiago Tintore Ramon fell to Martin Thomas and Andres Millet 6-2.
 
"Losing the doubles point made it a definite uphill battle," said Westmont head coach Mark Basham. "We did get it done on court one again with Ethan and Logan, and I am really happy with their performance so far this season. We just couldn't quite get it done on number two, and on three, we had another fairly rough day."
 
In singles play, Westmont could only escape with a single point. Thompson put up an admirable fight on court one, ultimately losing to Popyrin 5-7, 6-5, 4-6. Aside from Thompson, and Hemry, who won his match, the rest of the Warriors fell in just two sets.
 
Hemry got Westmont on the board with a 6-1, 7-6 (3) win over Martin Thomas on court six.
 
"ACU was pretty good all around," shared Basham. "I don't think we let up or lacked in effort, I just thought Arizona Christian was really good today. There's a good chance we'll see them again in the conference tournament and we'll need to get better.
 
The Warriors will rest and collect themselves ahead of returning to action on Thursday, when they host Gustavus Adolphus.
 
"The message to guys after was just telling them to rest up, stretch out, and enjoy their weekend," offered Basham. "Again, it wasn't a lack of effort today. We just lost to a good team, and we need to keep getting better."