UC Santa Cruz Athletics
Sonoma St.
Banana Slugs open spring with tough dual 7-2 loss to Sonoma State
2/1/2020 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Saturday was the Slugs first dual match as they welcomed Sonoma State to Santa Cruz and began with doubles. Due to a couple of injuries for returners, many of the freshmen were in early. Unfortunately, things got rocky for UCSC's number 1 doubles team when freshman Reini Igna suffered an injury causing a withdraw at 3-2. The first doubles point went to Sonoma. The second doubles match remained injury free, however sophomore David Jackson and freshman Andrew Tjoa were unable to pull away with a win (8-6). The final doubles match was a nail-biter, with Freshmen Suriya Sundaram and Andre Mardirossian competing in their first ever collegiate match at No. 3. After a tough match, Suriya and Andre lost in a tiebreak 5-7.
During the singles matches, some of the team had to move up two spots due to injuries. Despite the challenge, the Slugs were still able to compete with their Division II opponents. The highlight matches were Matt Kermin at number 5, David Jackson at number 3, and Sundaram at number 6. Suriya was able to pull out a win as he was up 6-5 when his opponent, Alex Long, suffered an injury during the match. Jackson's number 3 match remained neck-and-neck but also was unable to be finished also due to an injured opponent. Kermin was facing Sonoma's Alec Wong in match 5, a player with the same style of play, but he was also unable to come away with a win falling 0-6, 5-7.
Senior Kris Harris recapped the match noting that "considering the circumstances, I think it was a good day. Yeah, we weren't at 100% strength, but everyone who played played well and played smart and it's a good springboard for us to keep improving."
The Banana Slugs host rival Cal Lutheran next Saturday.
Players Mentioned
