Kansas City
Santa Clara
Roos Push No. 72 Broncos to Limit, But Drop 4-3 Decision
2/27/2016 7:33:00 PM | Men's Tennis
(Santa Clara, Calif.) - UMKC men's tennis came within a tibreak in No. 2 doubles of upsetting No. 72 Santa Clara on the road Saturday afternoon, but fell 4-3.
The Roos (4-5) knew they needed to get some big performances in doubles play in order to pull off the upset, and they did, but fell just short. The No. 1 pair of Mike Psarros and Airam Castellano snagged a 7-5 victory after UMKC fell at No. 3, leaving it up to the pair of Uldis Gaismins and Amaury Navette at No. 2. The Roos forced it into a tiebreak, but the Broncos (5-4) edged it out to steal the doubles point.
In singles play, UMKC sliced the lead in half after a win by Psarros at No. 4 cut the margin to 2-1. The Broncos again edged the Roos in matches at No. 5 and No. 2 in a third set, both taking them 6-4 in the deciding set. UMKC fought back with wins at No. 6 by Navette and No. 3 by Andrey Smirnov in a third set, but the damage had been done in doubles.
The Roos have been on the brink of stealing some matches this season, but have fallen just short.
"Matches like this show how close we are to being a great team," Head Coach Kendell Hale said. "This helps build toughness that will make us better down the road."
UMKC will be back at it on Sunday when it faces UC-Santa Cruz
#72 Santa Clara 4, Missouri-Kansas City 3
Feb 27, 2016 at Santa Clara University (Degheri Tennis Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Ashot Khacharyan (SCU) def. Airam Castellano (UMKC) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2. Andrew Gu (SCU) def. Uldis Gaismins (UMKC) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 |
| 3. Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) def. Robert Seby (SCU) 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 |
| 4. Mike Psarros (UMKC) def. Connor Garnett (SCU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 5. Kamram Khan (SCU) def. Vinh Pham (UMKC) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 |
| 6. Amaury Navette (UMKC) def. Sebastien Mathieu (SCU) 7-5, 7-6 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. Airam Castellano/Mike Psarros (UMKC) def. Robert Seby/Andrew Gu (SCU) 7-5 |
| 2. Ashot Khacharyan/Connor Garnett (SCU) def. Uldis Gaismins/Amaury Navette (UMKC) 7-6 |
| 3. Kamram Khan/Jeffrey Liang (SCU) def. Vinh Pham/Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) 6-4 |
| Match Notes |
| Missouri-Kansas City 4-5 |
| Santa Clara 5-4; National ranking #72 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,4,5,2,6,3) |
Players Mentioned
