By Jacob Norling
February 9, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) In their first official NCAA Division II match the Westmont Men's Tennis team fell 5-2 at the hands of their once-again rivals, the Biola Eagles. A very competitive doubles portion of the day saw the Eagles pull away on one and three, before the road team took control in singles.
 
On one, during doubles, Nico Ramirez and Adrian Solorzano out-lasted Austin Stone and Ethan Ha (7-5), and on three, Thiago Canessa and Santino Serrallonga got the better of Goor Adiv and Preston Hastings (6-4). At time of clinch, Logan Thompson and Owen Vander Ark were knotted 4-4 against Patricio Larrea and Flores Monteverde.
 
"This was a really close match against one of the top teams in the PacWest," assured Westmont head coach Chris Elwood. "The good takeaways from this are that we played them close. The doubles point really could have gone either way.
 
"We just need to work on executing on the big points, the deuce points. Again, it could have gone our way, but I still find that to be encouraging."
 
In singles, Westmont's lone-completed victory came on three, where captain Logan Thompson defeated Larrea 6-4, 3-6, 11-9 in a tiebreaker. Westmont also claimed a win on five, where Owen Vander Ark was awarded the victory when Canessa was forced to retire. The two, at the time, were very early in their first set, with Vander Ark leading 2-1.
 
On one, Ramirez bested Ha 6-4, 7-5, and on two, Solorzano dealt with Stone by a score of 6-2, 6-2. Serrallonga beat Hastings in two sets (6-3, 6-4), while Adiv and Flores Monteverde went to a third. In the tiebreaker, the Eagles got the better of Adiv to wrap up a 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 win.
 
"In singles, Logan's win at number three was the match of the day," noted Elwood. "Other notables included Ethan playing the best player in the PacWest, Nico Ramirez, who won the ITA. Ethan played him really close. He played high-level tennis.
 
"Then we also had a really tight third-set at number four, where Goor lost 6-4 in the third set. These were close matches. We've got some work to do, but we belong here. We've got to up our level of tennis, but we're right there, and I'm proud of the guys."
 
The men are right back at it tomorrow when they take on Arizona Christian at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racket Club. First serve is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.