Despite having its 10-game winning streak snapped by Memphis, the Sac State men?s tennis team won three of four matches to finish third out of 13 teams at the UC Irvine Tournament.

The Hornets won their first two matches of the tournament, but lost their third match on Saturday, having to settle for a third place consolation match against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The team?s record now stands at a stealthy 13-2 on the season.

Head coach Chris Evers thought the team played well against the competition.”They played well, it?s tough playing four in a row,” Evers said. “There were some very good teams in the tournament.”

The Hornets defeated Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 4-2, Sunday morning, winning three singles matches, and earning the doubles point with victories at the number one and three matches.

Junior Sherif Zaher and senior Joseph Gilbert won 8-4. The two combined to go 3-1 in doubles play during the tournament. The other doubles victory was from sophomore Sylvain Iff and senior Kevin Vieira, who won 8-0. These two also went 3-1 in doubles play.Sac State secured victories in the numbers three, five, and six singles position Sunday, winning 4-2.

Smith, the number three seed, won 7-6, 6-4. He won all four of his singles matches in the tournament. In the number five match, senior Joseph Gilbert was able to defeat his opponent 6-3, 6-4, and go 3-1 in singles competition during the four day competition.In the other singles win, Vieira won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Along with Smith, Vieira went undefeated during the tournament.

Evers was curious to see how the team would respond after the loss the previous day.”After a loss, you don?t know how they will come out, but they came out and played well,” said Evers, in reference to the 5-2 loss against Memphis.In that match, Sac State lost the doubles point because the team was only able to win one match of the three matches.

“The doubles point is huge,” Evers said. “If we lose, that means the other team is good.”Sac State won two singles matches when Smith and number six Vieira defeated their opponents.

Evers believes that losses can help a team become better.

“Sometimes losses are better,” he said. “It makes us work harder.”

Friday, the Hornets faced the number one seeded UC Irvine, winning 6-1.The win was a lot closer than the score indicated, according to Evers.

“We played UC Irvine real well. It was a lot closer than the 6-1 score,” he said. “Four of the six singles matches went three sets.”

Sac State received wins from the number one and three through six players.

Zaher won 0-6, 7-5, 6-1. Three other matches went three sets, and Sac State was able to win two of those. Smith won 3-6, 6-0, 7-6, while Iff won 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The team also won two of three doubles matches to win the doubles point.The tournament started off well for the Hornets, as they defeated Jacksonville 6-1.”The first day we played good enough to win,” Evers said.

Zaher won 6-4, 6-3, and his record for the season is now 10-4.Evers labeled Zaher as a team player because winning as a team is very important to him.The other singles wins came from Smith, Iff, Gilbert, and Vieira.

The team will now travel to Portland, Ore. this weekend to take part in the Big Sky Regionals.