By Jacob Norling
April 12, 2022
 
(SURPRISE, Ariz.) For Westmont Men's Tennis (7-9), the day began with good news, and ended with a great win. In the morning, the men received word that Logan Thompson and Ethan Ha were named to the All-GSAC team.
 
Then, in the afternoon, the men celebrated with a 4-1 win over Hope International (6-13) to advance to the GSAC Semifinals.
 
"It was a fun day," said Westmont head coach Mark Basham. "At the end of our team meeting I said 'guys I hate to have to tell you this but we don't have any All-GSAC guys this year'. I let that sink in for a second then said '…except for Logan and Ethan.
 
"They were super excited for their teammates and it was a fun time getting to tease them and then go play as well as we did."
 
In doubles, one could have blinked and missed Ha and Thompson's win on court one. Before the chairs were warm, Ha and Thompson defeated Flo Sirven and Adam Szello 6-0. After Joseph Hemry and Owen Vander Ark fell on two, all eyes turned to Benny Saito and Tristan Wright on three.
 
With the set tied 3-3, Saito and the Warriors were trying to hold serve, but fell down 40-love, risking a momentum-shifting break for the Royals. Then, Saito turned it up a notch, and his serving led the duo to not surrender another point for the rest of the set.
 
Up 4-3, Saito and Wright fell down 40-15 in the next game, then caught fire and earned the break in thrilling fashion, going up 5-3 with the next set of serves.
 
Up 5-3, the Warriors were led by the serving of Wright and put away the Royals with a 6-3 win to claim the doubles point and a huge swing of momentum.
 
"The doubles point was so key," said Basham. "I was stoked at how quickly and decisively we won at number one. Then it was a matter of, 'can we get a win at two or three?' On two, we did not look good. We were down and out.
 
"On three, Benny was down love-40 serving, and coming back to win that game was pivotal."
 
In singles, Szello got the better of Thompson 6-1, 7-6 (5), but it would turn out to be the Royals' lone point of the match.
 
On two, Hemry put on a dominant performance and defeated Reid Lizardo 6-2, 6-0, and on three, Ha experienced similar success with a 6-2, 6-1 over Yahia el Sheikh.
 
Eventually, Wright brought the match to an end with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Sirven on five, and officially sent the Warriors to the tournament semis.
 
"In singles, I didn't want anyone to take it for granted," shared Basham. "We knew we had momentum from beating them before, and then taking the doubles point. We knew they were going to be a little down after doubles and we had to stay on them.
 
"I couldn't have been more thrilled with Joseph moving from six to five to four to three to two this season. He got a decisive win against a quality opponent. Tristan had an amazing day as well and I was stoked that he was our clincher."
 
On Wednesday, the Warriors square up against Arizona Christian in the GSAC Semifinals at 12:30 p.m. A link to live stats is available on the Westmont Athletics website.