By Jacob Norling
March 25, 2022
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) In a non-conference matchup on Thursday, Westmont Men's Tennis (4-6, 4-1 GSAC) was unable to fend off Gustavus Adolphus (14-9), as the Golden Gusties outlasted the Warriors by a score of 4-3. The Warriors took the doubles match, and in singles had three match points, but ultimately the road club prevailed at day's end..
 
"I had a feeling it was going to be a battle today," said Westmont head coach Mark Basham. "I thought after we won the doubles point that we were going to have a great chance to come out victorious. However, you can never count your chickens before they hatch."
 
In doubles, Westmont took both matches on courts one and two, clinching the doubles point before the Gusties claimed court three. On one, Logan Thompson and Ethan defeated Josh Christensen and Caleb Fridinger 6-4, and on two, Owen Vander Ark and Joseph Hemry defeated Oscar Wikstrom and Jack Bergmeyer by the same score.
 
Once the Warriors had already clinched doubles, Benjamin Saito and Santiago Tintore Ramon fell in a tiebreaker on three by a score of 7-6 (3).
 
In singles, Gustavus Adolphus immediately put pressure on the Warriors by taking matches on courts three and four rather quickly. On three, Bergmeyer defeated Vander Ark 6-3, 6-2, and on four, Fridinger defeated Tristan Wright 6-3, 6-1.
 
On two, Ha won a thriller by a score of 6-4, 7-6 (7) for his first singles win of the season. Once Ha had won the match point, he spun towards his teammates watching and flipped his racquet in celebration, having finally gotten the singles monkey off his back.
 
With three matches left following Ha's victory, Westmont needed to take two of three to claim the match, and things looked promising. On both five and six, Hemry and Saito had taken the first set, and on one, Thomspon forced a decisive third set.
 
Unfortunately for the Warriors, Hemry was the only man left to prevail in his singles match, as he defeated Taona Mhwandagara 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-1.
 
After Saito dropped the two remaining sets on six, all eyes turned to Thompson who led 5-4 on court one. Up 5-4, Thompson led the next game 40-15 and had a handful of chances to win the match for the Warriors. Unfortunately for Thompson and company, Christensen not only came back to claim that game, but an additional two to win 7-5.
 
"Overall, I was pleased with our performance," began Basham. "I thought we could have played a little better on three and four, but those guys were tough matchups. I was really happy to see Ethan get his match on two. He is such a battler and it was good to see him come out on the positive end.
 
"Joseph is a really strong player for us, and he'll probably continue moving up in the lineup. I thought Benny was going to win on six, but their guy turned it around and got better and better."
 
Thompson, who played hero in the same situation last weekend, experienced the other end of the spectrum on Thursday.
 
"Logan played well," assured Basham. "I was bummed we weren't able to get any of the last three matches, but sometimes it doesn't happen. Logan is a cool customer and the more he believes in his forehand the better he'll be.
 
"He's very clutch. He is a real gamer and I have the utmost confidence in him. He's a big game player, he just has to keep working."
 
Westmont returns to GSAC play with a key road matchup against Saint Katherine on Friday. First serve is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.