Feb. 2, 2008

Santa Clara, CA - The Loyola Marymount men's tennis team travelled to conference rival 75th-ranked Santa Clara on Saturday in their first dual match of the season. The Lions dominated in doubles play, taking all three matches from the Broncos to earn a 5-2 victory. LMU starts off the 2007-08 spring campaign 1-0 on the season.

In singles, LMU's freshmen had a successful day with all three players taking the matches from their opponents. At the No. 3 slot, Ivan Lopez defeated Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong (6-1, 6-3), while teammates Johan Berhof stole the victory from Charlie Burke (6-1, 6-0) at the No. 5 position, and Stefan Nikolic beat Justin Wong in three sets, (6-2, 4-6, 6-0).

Sophomore Renzo Maggi defeated Sentil Chidambaram (7-6, 3-2) at the No. 4 position. Seniors Jacek Twarowski and Sam Tadevosian lost at the No. 1 and 2 spots, Twarowski to Jay Wong (6-4, 3-4, 5-2) in a thrilling three set match, and Tadevosian to Steven Benvenuto in two sets (6-4, 6-2).

The Lions controlled doubles play, stealing victories from the Broncos at the No.1, 2 and 3 slots. Maggi and Tadevosian defeated Santa Clara's duo of Benvenuto/Wong, 8-6, Berhof and Twarowski won at No. 2 against Chidambaram/Hirakawa-Wong, 8-3, while Lopez and sophomore teammate Nick Von Der Ahe were victorious against Burke/Iwanski, 8-3.

The Lions will resume dual action on Saturday February 9, at 11:00 a.m., when they host Sacramento State at the LMU Tennis Center.

Doubles
No. 1 Renzo Maggi/Sam Tadevosian d. Steven Benvenuto/Jay Wong 8-6
No. 2 Johan Berhof/Jacek Twarowski d. Senthil Chidambaram/Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong 8-3
No. 3 Ivan Lopez/Nick Von Der Ahe d. Charlie Burke/John Iwanski 8-3

Singles
No. 1 Jay Wong d. Jacek Twarowski 6-4, 3-4, 5-2
No. 2 Steven Benvenuto d. Sam Tadevosian 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 Ivan Lopez d. Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong 1-6, 3-6
No. 4 Renzo Maggi d. Senthil Chidambaram 6-7, 2-3
No. 5 Johan Berhof d. Charlie Burke 1-6, 0-6
No. 6 Stefan Nikolic d. Justin Wong 2-6, 6-4, 0-6