Gauchos earn milestone win
The Saddleback men's tennis team defeated Riverside City College, 5-4, on Wednesday afternoon at the Saddleback Tennis Complex. It was win No. 100 for head coach Bud Davis.
The Saddleback men's tennis team was playing for the second straight day and facing a very formidable opponent in the Tigers from Riverside City College. The Gauchos didn't let the conditioning nor the opponent get in the way, pulling out a victory over the Tigers to improve to 2-0 in Orange Empire Conference play and 5-2 overall. It also marked a milestone for coach Bud Davis, who won his 100th match as coach of the program.
Saddleback led 2-1 heading into singles play after Ivan Ozerets and Ryan Burns combined for an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles. Earlier in the day, Oliver Ludwig and Tyler Edwards combined for an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles to get the Gauchos out front.
The team match came down to the final singles match of the day where Ozerets faced Riverside's David Garcia at No. 5 singles. After falling in the first set 5-7, Ozerets rallied for a dominating 6-0 win in set two to force a third and final set. With all the momentum on his side, Ozerets cruised past Garcia, 6-1, to give the Gauchos a 5-4 win and a half-game lead in the Orange Empire Conference standings.
For Davis, it was his 100th win in his 10th year as the head coach of the Saddleback program. Davis' Gauchos have qualified for the playoffs in each of the past four seasons, with his squads achieving a 3.0 GPA or-better in three of those seasons. With a 100-82 overall record, Davis is second all-time in the history of the program in wins to Bill Otta, who coached the Gaucho program for 22 years before retiring from coaching in 2000.
Saddleback (5-2, 2-0) will be back on the courts on Thursday when they host Orange Coast College at the Saddleback Tennis Complex. Match time with the Pirates (8-2, 1-1) is scheduled for 2:00 PM.
DOUBLES
1 Miles Clark & Gleb Mityurin (RCC) def. Shayan Haddad Kaveh & Chris Torcaso (SC) 8-3
2 Ivan Ozerets & Ryan Burns (SC) def. David Garcia & Maechel Hanna (RCC) 8-4
3 Oliver Ludwig & Tyler Edwards (SC) def. Austin Archer & Luke Craig (RCC) 8-3
SINGLES
1 Miles Clark (RCC) def. Shayan Haddad Kaveh (SC) 6-2, 6-4
2 Gleb Mityurin (RCC) def. Tyler Edwards (SC) 7-6(7), 6-1
3 Lucas Fortt (SC) def. Maechel Hanna (RCC) 6-2, 6-2
4 Chris Torcaso (SC) def. Esteban Ortiz (RCC) 6-1, 6-1
5 Ivan Ozerets (SC) def. David Garcia (RCC) 5-7, 6-0, 6-1
6 Ayrton Aviles (RCC) def. Anthony Tran (SC) 6-1, 7-5