After demolishing the competition in regular season play, the men?s tennis team had the chance to face some of the best competition in the country when it squared off against UCLA Saturday afternoon at UCLA?s Los Angeles Tennis Center.

UCLA, ranked number three in the country, was able to defeat the Hornets, 4-0. The Bruins were the number two seed in the tournament, while the Hornets were the number 63 seed.Sac State head coach Chris Evers knew his team was in for a tough match against the Bruins.

“They (UCLA) looked good,” Evers said. “They looked like a top five team. I don?t think they are that far ahead of us though.”

The Hornets, who have been able to claim the pivotal doubles point all season long, were unable to take the 1-0 lead before singles action got under way.

“Our doubles played pretty well,” Evers said. “For us to have had a shot, we had to win the doubles point.”

UCLA won the number one and three doubles match to receive the doubles point. In the number one match, junior Sherif Zaher and senior Joseph Gilbert lost to Jean-Noel Grinda and Jean-Julien Roger of UCLA, 8-4. In the number three doubles match, sophomores Sylvain Iff and Nick Sheehan lost to the Bruins? duo of Lassi Ketola and Tobias Clemens, 8-6. The number two doubles match was suspended since UCLA won two of three doubles matches.

“We didn?t push them. You never know what could have happened if we would have pushed them,” Evers said.

Singles play for the Hornets did not fare any better. UCLA was able to gain victories in the number two, three, and six positions to acquire the four points to win the match.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Evers said. “In three of the singles matches, we were competitive. Sherif was up a set, and Joseph lost a breaker.”

The Bruins punished the Hornets in their three wins, not allowing the Hornets? players to win more than three games. The number three singles match had senior Chris Smith going up against Clemens. Smith lost, 6-2, 6-0. Sheehan, in the six singles position lost to Travis Rettenmaier of UCLA, 6-2, 6-0. UCLA was able to end the match against Sac State when Grinda defeated the Hornets? Fabio Jesus, 6-2, 6-3.

Evers felt the season was good, but would have liked to see tougher opponents throughout the season.

“It was a good season for the guys,” Evers said. “I wish we would have had better competition throughout the season.”

Although the season has come to a conclusion for the Hornets, they accomplished a lot.The team won its last eight matches and went 7-0 in Big Sky Conference play. They finished the season with a program-best 20-3 record. The Hornets also were crowned Big Sky Conference Champions for the third time in four years.

Individually, the team had five players named to the all-conference team. Zaher, Smith and Gilbert were named first team all-conference. Zaher was also named Big Sky Conference MVP. Senior Kevin Vieira was a second team all Big Sky selection, while Iff received honorable mention.

Praise for the team does not stop with the players, as Evers was named Big Sky Tennis Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season.

“We had a lot of accomplishments this season,” Evers said. “Sherif got Big Sky MVP, probably the first time for a Sac State player. Now I will start recruiting for next year. Next year will be a challenge. We will have some new guys coming into the program.”