Men’s tennis opens OEC play with a win

The men's tennis team jumped out to a 1-0 start in Orange Empire Conference play with a 6-3 win over Fullerton College in Fullerton on Tuesday.  The Gauchos won 5-of-6 singles matches in the win.

Saddleback has been battling minor injuries and illnesses for most of the spring so they headed into OEC play on Tuesday with some issues.  Fortunately, the Gauchos have enough depth and overcame the setbacks with enough wins at singles to put away the Hornets. 

The lone loss in singles play was at #4 singles where Kris Harris retired after getting sick during the match.  Riku Goto, Connor Mengert, Vance La, Zuriel Aaron and Kian Saidi picked up the slack by winning comfortable.  The quintuplet scored easy victories, winning 60-of-70 games as the Gauchos closed out the team match before heading to doubles play.  Goto and Mengert then teamed for an 8-2 win at #1 doubles in becoming two-time winners on the day.

Saddleback plays again on Thursday when it hosts Orange Coast College (6-2) on the Saddleback Courts.  Match time is scheduled for 2:00 PM.

Singles:

1. Riku Goto (SC) def. S. McCormack (FC) 6-2, 6-0
2. Connor Mengert (SC) def. D. Yang (FC) 6-1, 6-1
3. Vance La (SC) def. R. Rich (FC) 6-0, 6-1
4. M. Munoz (FC) def. Kris Harris (SC) 5-1 ret
5. Zuriel Aaron (SC) def. S. Crellin (FC) 6-2, 6-0
6. Kian Saidi (SC) def. M. Verdone (FC) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles:

1. Goto & Mengert (SC) def. McCormack & Rich (FC) 8-2
2. Yang & Munoz (FC) def. La & Saidi (SC) 8-3
3.   FC def. SC walkover