The Sacramento State men’s tennis team defeated Eastern Washington 5-2 for its first Big Sky Conference win of the season on Friday in their home opener. 

The Hornets (1-1, 1-0 Big Sky) bounced back after a road loss against Pepperdine to start the season. The team started off strong in doubles winning all three of their matches and earning an early 1-0 lead. 

Freshman Anton De La Puente and Carlos Rodriguez won their No. 2 doubles set 6-2. Freshman Elliot Arnarp and Sophomore Josh Snowdon-Poole won their No. 3 set 6-2. Seniors Louis Chabut and Hermont Legaspi won the No. 1 match 7-6 to complete the doubles victory.

Chabut returned to singles play against Eastern Washington (0-2, 0-1) after not playing against Pepperdine to rest an injury. He won the No. 3 match 2-0 (6-3, 6-3). After the matches coach Kevin Kurtz praised Chabut for being able to come back strong.

“We’ve always known that he’s an amazing competitor and amazing tennis player and we’re so excited to have him as our captain,” Kurtz said.

Snowdon-Poole fell down 0-1 after the first set of the No. 2 match, but was able to come back and win 2-1 (2-6, 6-2, 6-4).

“At the start of the second set I got into more of a competitive mode and switched on to start playing my tennis instead of his,” Snowdon-Poole said.

Junior Michael Vizcarra won the No. 6 match 2-0 (6-2, 6-1) and Arnarp won the No. 4 match 2-1 (6-2, 1-6, 6-3). Arnarp said consistency is the key to winning in competitive matches. He added that the crowd support and his own energy play a big role in edging out his opponent.

“We had pretty good support here today and they really helped me get through this important match and important moments to stay really aggressive and pumped up,” Arnarp said.

This was Arnarp’s first conference match with the Hornets. He said it was fun although there is a little more pressure. However, Arnarp said he thought his team handled it well and noted the importance of the win.

“This is huge, this sets the standard for the rest of the season,” Arnarp said.

Story continues below tweet. 

Sac State’s Hermont Legaspi is trying to tie up the last singles match of the day as his teammates look on. @SH_Sports pic.twitter.com/9xICjGhpKM

— Luis Platero (@LuisPlatero_) January 25, 2020

De La Puente lost the No. 5 singles match to give Eastern Washington their first win of the day. In the final match of the day, the No. 1 match, Legaspi lost 2-1 in a close 10-8 finish in the last set. 

Arnarp encouraged his teammates and believes they will win their next matches.

“Just keep working and staying aggressive,” Arnarp said.

Kurtz was pleased with his teams’ effort and ability to bounce back after a tough loss.

“The toughness as far as how everyone competed, the energy was through the roof,” Kurtz said.

Sac State’s next game is on the road against Saint Mary’s on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.