By Jacob Norling
February 3, 2026
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Tennis (1-0) opened their season with a bang on Tuesday afternoon when the Warriors swept the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen 7-0 in Santa Barbara. The energy was contagious on a day where a new-look group appeared desperate to make a good first impression.
 
In doubles the lone blemish on Westmont's day was their inability to win on court two, putting pressure on Westmont's court-three pairing after JD Drake and Driss Sedrati got the job done at line one (6-3). Claiming the day's first point officially was Westmont's Rafael Matias and Arjun Sivakumar, who defeated Toki Adachi and Arsiya Farajollahi 6-4.
 
Matias carried the momentum over to singles where he dismantled Ethan Sherwood 6-1, 6-1 at line one. On five, Zach Steinberg showed similar dominance with a 6-1, 6-2 over Carlo Drewelow. Sidharth Maharana got to be the clincher for the season opener, the sophomore defeated Mateo Songlia 6-2, 6-4 to put it on ice.
 
Wrapping things up, Diego De Cooman beat Raphael Simon on two by a score 6-4, 6-2, and on three, Sedrati beat Adachi 6-7, 6-3, 10-3. For good measure, Antoine De Cooman won on four as well, as he beat Maxenxe Faniel 6-4, 1-6, 13-11.
 
"It was a total team effort, and a great way to start the season," said head coach Chris Elwood. "I was really proud of the heart in our guys, which was evident in the fact that we pulled out two three-setters. It was great to start the day off with that doubles point in the beginning. I think that a key moment early on with Arjun and Rafa clinching it. Driss and JD were solid at number-one doubles, as well, and it really got our momentum rolling in a good way."
 
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight against a deeper Cal Lutheran than we've seen in the past. Our guys just played very solid at one and two, and five and six. Newcomers Zach Steinberg and Rafael Matias were both just playing exceptional matches. They were locked in, focused, and just worked incredibly hard physically.
 
"Then Diego De Cooman and Sid Maharana had superb performances as well. Overall, it was a great day for Westmont Tennis, and a great start to the season.
 

The Warriors will look to make it two in a row on Thursday, when they host Whittier at 2:00 p.m.