Gauchos rally past Pirates

The Saddleback men's tennis team came from behind to defeat Orange Coast College, 6-3, on Tuesday in Costa Mesa.  The Gauchos trailed big before rallying past the Pirates.

Saddleback put themselves into a hole by losing 2-of-3 doubles matches and had to rely on singles play to pull out a win.  The lone winners in doubles play were Tyler Bloom and Chris Torcaso, who breezed to an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles.

Things didn't start out the way Saddleback planned in singles play either as they lost at No. 1 singles, putting themselves at a big disadvantage and needing to win 4-of-5 remaining singles matches in order to pull out the team win.

Things got a bit closer after Torcaso raced past his opponent at No. 4 singles for his second win of the day with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Chris Hasrouni.  The Gauchos then evened up the match a couple of minutes later when Chad Henry closed out Yuma Olsen, 6-2, 6-0.

Needing two more wins to secure the team match and complete the comeback, Bloom put Saddleback ahead with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win over Ho Kim Tam at No. 2 singles for a 4-3 lead.  The match would come down to Ivan Ozerets at No. 3 singles and Oliver Ludwig at No. 6 singles, needing one of the two to win to secure the victory.  Both matches turned into marathons, going to a third and final set.

Saddleback would put the final nail in the coffin when Ludwig rallied from one set down for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Matt Lindsey for a 5-3 lead.  For good measure, Ozerets (pictured) then went deep into the third set for a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 thriller over Charley Vanderwey at No. 3 singles.

Saddleback improved to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in Orange Empire Conference play with the win.  The Gauchos will play again on Thursday when they host Cypress College (5-4, 3-1) on the Saddleback Courts.  Match time with the Chargers is scheduled for 2:00 PM.

Singles:

1. Ho Kim Tam & Chris Hasrouni (OCC) def. Ryan Fabre & David Lemus (SC) 8-0
2. Tyler Bloom & Chris Torcaso (SC) def. Charley Vanderwey & Nikith Garikaparthi (OCC) 8-2
3. Joey Dijkstra & Matt Lindsey (OCC) def. Chad Henry & Oliver Ludwig (SC) 8-0

Doubles:

1.Joey Dijkstra (OCC) def. Ryan Fabre (SC) 6-1, 6-1
2. Tyler Bloom (SC) def. Ho Kim Tam (OCC) 6-4, 6-1
3. Ivan Ozerets (SC) def. Charley Vanderwey (OCC) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
4. Chris Torcaso (SC) def. Chris Hasrouni (OCC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Chad Henry (SC) def. Yuma Olsen (OCC) 6-2, 6-0
6. Oliver Ludwig (SC) def. Matt Lindsey (OCC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1