Gauchos finish conference play on high note

Gauchos finish conference play on high note

The Saddleback men's tennis team finished off its regular season with a 6-3 victory over Orange Coast College on Thursday at the Saddleback Tennis Complex.  The Gauchos now wait to see if they will qualify for the upcoming playoffs.

Saddleback showed its depth in rallying from a 2-1 deficit after doubles play to roll past the Pirates and put themselves in a good spot for the playoffs.  Despite finishing the regular season in fourth place in the Orange Empire Conference, the Gauchos (10-8, 4-6) have defeated a handful of other teams on the bubble for a playoff spot and will find out this weekend when the coaches meet at Cerritos College for the traditional playoff seed meeting.

Saddleback lost 2-of-3 doubles matches to start the day, winning at No. 3 doubles when the team of Chad Henry and Oliver Ludwig led 5-3 before the team of Nikith Garikaparthi and Yuma Olsen (OCC) retired to give the Gauchos their first win of the day. 

Saddleback then kicked things into gear in singles play, losing only one match and pushing themselves over the finish line on a high note.  Ivan Ozerets (3) and Oliver Ludwig (6) both had to go to a final tiebreaker to secure the win, winning 6-3 and 10-7, respectively. 

Ryan Fabre (pictured) starting things off with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles to get the team match even at 2-2.  Shortly thereafter, Chad Henry was a 6-2, 6-1 winner at No. 5 singles and Saddleback was off and running.   Henry and Ludwig were two-time winners on the day after winning in both doubles and singles play. 

Saddleback will find out its playoff fate this Sunday.  Keep it tuned to saddlebackgauchos.com for all the latest news or follow us on Twitter at @SCGauchos for up-to-the-minute headlines.

Doubles:

1.  Doug Nguyen & Chris Hasrouni (OCC) def. Ryan Fabre & David Lemus (SC) 8-5
2.  Joey Dijkstra & Matt Lindsey (OCC) def. Tyler Bloom & Chris Torcaso (SC) 8-5
3.  Chad Henry & Oliver Ludwig (SB) def. Nikith Garikaparthi & Yuma Olsen (OCC) 5-3 (retired)

Singles:

1.  Ryan Fabre (SC) def. Ho Kiu Tam (OCC) 6-2, 6-1
2.  Joey Dijkstra (OCC) def. Tyler Bloom (SC) 6-4 6-2
3.  Ivan Ozerets (SC) def. Doug Nguyen (OCC) 2-6, 6-3, (6-3)
4.  Chris Torcaso (SC) def. Chris Hasrouni (OCC) 6-3, 6-2
5.  Chad Henry (SC) def. Charlie Vanderwey (OCC) 6-2, 6-1
6.  Oliver Ludwig (SC,) def. Yuma Olsen (OCC) 7-6, 4-6, (10-7)