Gauchos zap Hornets for OEC win

The Saddleback men's tennis team started the Orange Empire Conference schedule with a 5-4 win over Fullerton College on Tuesday at the Saddleback Tennis Complex.  The Gauchos had a pair of wins from Chris Torcaso in the win.

Saddleback was playing its first OEC match of the year due to a handful of rain postponements, and kicked off the rust with a hard-fought victory against Fullerton College.  The match went down the final battle of the day where Toscaso and Shayan Haddad Kaveh combined for an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles to pull out the win.  It was the second win of the day for Torcaso, who cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win against Louis St. Clair at No. 4 singles earlier in the day.

Saddleback and Fullerton were tied 3-3 after the singles portion of the match, with Torcaso, Ivan Ozerets and Anthony Tran all winning at 4-5-6 in the lineup.  The Gauchos took a 4-3 lead when Oliver Ludwig and Tyler Edwards combined for an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles against St. Clair and Austin Kang. 

Saddleback is now 4-2 overall and 1-0 in Orange Empire Conference play after the win.  The Gauchos have matches again on Wednesday and Thursday in an attempt to make up matches that were disrupted by rain over the past two weeks.  Saddleback will host Riverside City College on Wednesday and Orange Coast College on Thursday.  Both matches are scheduled to start at 2:00 PM.

SINGLES:
1. Jindrich Kosatik (FC) def. Tyler Edwards (SC) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. Sergio Lee-Gutirrez (FC) def. Shayan Haddad Kaveh (SC) 6-2, 6-3
3. Charles Kirk (FC) def. Lucas Fortt (SC) 6-1, 6-4
4. Chris Torcaso (SC) def. Louis St. Clair (FC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Ivan Ozerets (SC) def. Thiago Manzano (FC) 6-2, 6-1
6. Anthony Tran (SC) def. Austin Kang (FC) 6-3, 6-3

DOUBLES:
1. Shayan Haddad Kaveh / Chris Torcaso (SC)  def. Jindrich Kosatik / Sergio Lee-Gutirrez (FC) 8-6
2. Thiago Manzano / Charles Kirk (FC) def. Lucas Fortt / Ryan Burns (SC) 8-4
3. Oliver Ludwig / Tyler Edwards (SC) def. Louis St. Clair / Austin Kang (FC) 8-3