Box Score By Jacob Norling
March 29, 2022
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Tennis (5-8, 5-2 GSAC) went head to head with NCAA Div. III Williams (Mass.) (4-1) on Tuesday afternoon in Santa Barbara. The match started with the Ephs claiming the doubles point, and ended with the east coast team continuing their success in singles for a 5-2 win.
 
"Overall, I thought we played pretty well," said Westmont head coach Mark Basham. "It was a little bit of a teaser match where, compared to San Diego Christian, you sensed there was an opportunity for us. We weren't quite solid enough up and down the lineup to take advantage of the opportunity today."
 
In doubles, the Ephs took the first pair of matches before Westmont got on the board, clinching the doubles points as the chairs grew warm. On one, Matt Kandel and Chase Cohen defeated Logan Thompson Ethan Ha 6-3, and on three, Michael Medvedev and Jack Truwit bested Benny Saito and Santiago Tintore Ramon 6-2.
 
The Warriors' lone win in doubles came as a moot point after the fact, when Joseph Hemry and Owen Vander Ark defeated Shawn Berdia and Karan Amin 6-4.
 
"In doubles I was happy to see us get it done at number two," said Basham. "We didn't play our best at number one, which is unfortunate because we have played so well on one this year. It would have been great to get a match on one or three to get that doubles point."
 
In singles, the Ephs took control early, ensuring the Warriors did not pick up on any whiff of momentum. On five, Saito led 4-1 in the first before dropping five consecutive games to fall 6-4. Medvedev finished off Saito 6-2 in the second set.
 
On six, Kirun Chueng defeated Tintore Ramon by the same score (6-4, 6-2).
 
On one, Thompson won a tiebreaker in the first set 7-6 (4) before putting away Cohen 6-3 in set two. As Ha fell 6-3, 6-4 to Kandel on two, the Ephs claimed victory with two matches left to be played.
 
The day ended with two three-set come-from-behind victories, one in favor of Westmont and the next in favor of Williams. First, on three, Hemry came back from a 3-6 loss in set one to defeat Amin 6-2 in consecutive sets to claim the match.
 
Finally, on four, Vander Ark let one get away from him after winning the first set 6-4. Eventually, Berdia won back-to-back tense sets by scores of 6-4. 6-2.
 
"In singles, I was really happy with how Joseph came back at three," shared Basham. "Logan, once again, did a great job at number one. He's really been such a good performer this year in both singles and doubles. We had a good chance with Owen, but (Berdia) just got a lot better in the third and we weren't able to adjust."
 
The men return to action this coming Saturday at 3:00 p.m., when the Warriors host the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags in Santa Barbara. Two weeks from today, Westmont will begin play in the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament in Surprise, Arizona.
 
"We have to keep getting better in every position," noted Basham. "In some situations, we need to get healthy, and for the most part, we just need to keep working on all facets of the game."