Cheney, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University men's tennis team recorded a commanding 6-1 victory in a dual match against visiting UC Riverside Saturday, Jan. 30.

The triumph over UCR, coupled with a mid-week setback at Gonzaga, sees Eastern improve to 3-1 in dual matches in 2016.

EWU took all three matches to earn the doubles point against UC Riverside. The team of junior Robert Dula and freshman Victor Pereira beat the tandem of Sean Yun and Calvin Ngo 6-4, in the No. 1 spot, while the pairings of sophomore Vuk Vuckovic and junior Wacil Bendjelti and senior Eduardo Bringold and junior Luke Ness beat their respective opponents with identical 6-2 scores.

The singles portion of the match got off to a strong start with number one seed Dula dominating Julian Ruffin of UCR, 6-0, 6-1, at the No. 1 spot. Both Bringold and Vuckovic earned strong wins defeating their Highlander opponents 6-3, 6-3, and 6-2, 6-2 respectively. The closest match of the afternoon came from Victor Pereira, who topped Yun in a three set tiebreaker, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (1).

"Overall, we did some very good things and even more importantly the guys realize the areas they need to work on to shore up," EWU head coach Steve Clark said. "The process continues, and if we always give our best in that process, we will sometimes play our best and one time be the best."

The Eagles entered Saturday's contest against UCR on the heels of a hard-fought setback against Gonzaga on Wednesday, Jan. 27, where they fell 6-1 on the road.

In the doubles competition, the team of Vuckovic and Bendjelti took down the Bulldog team of Ruadhan O' Sullivan and Emilio Moreno, 6-4. Ultimately, GU earned the doubles point after a series of close matches both finished 6-4 in favor of Gonzaga.

In the singles competition, Robert Dula had a dominant victory 6-2, 6-2 over the Bulldog's No. 1 player Hayden Smith, while fighting through a back injury. Bendjelti also had a competitive match against Ronzai Saurombe. After a first set win 4-6, Bendjelti dropped the second set in a tiebreak 7-6. The match was decided in a final tiebreak when Saurombe took the match 10-6.

"Though it ended up being 1-6, it could have easily been 3-4 and when it is that close, pressure does funny things to people," said Clark. "I exhorted the team to look deep to see what physical, tactical, and mental areas let them down.  Champions give credit to a match well played to the opponent but take personal blame for the loss and are determined to fix the cause."

Eastern is back in action on the road, Thursday, Feb. 11 against Air Force, then travel for their Big Sky Conference opener at Northern Colorado, Friday, Feb. 12.

Results:

Eastern Washington - 1
Gonzaga - 6

Doubles:
1. Smith/Smith (GU) def. Dula/Pereira (EWU) 6-4
2. Vuckovic/Bendjelti (EWU) def. O' Sullivan/Moreno (GU) 6-4
3. Varas/Saurombe (GU) def. Ness/Bringold (EWU) 6-4

Singles:
1. Dula (EWU) def. H. Smith (GU) 6-2, 6-2
2. J. Smith (GU) def. Pereira (EWU) 6-1, 6-1
3. O' Sullivan (GU) def. Bringold (EWU) 6-0, 6-3
4. Varas (GU) def. Vuckovic (EWU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Saurombe (GU) def. Bendjelti (EWU) 4-6, 7-6, 10-6
6. Moreno (GU) def. Ness (EWU) 6-3, 6-1
 
Eastern Washington - 6
UC Riverside - 1

Doubles:
1. Dula/Pereira (EWU) def. Yun/Ngo (UCR) 6-4
2. Vuckovic/Bendjelti (EWU) def. Ruffin/Vizcarra (UCR) 6-2
3. Ness/Bringold (EWU) def. McCann/Ju (UCR) 6-2

Singles:
1. Dula (EWU) def. Ruffin (UCR) 6-0, 6-1
2. Pereira (EWU) def. Yun (UCR) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (1)
3. Bringold (EWU) def. McCann (UCR) 6-3, 6-3
4. Vuckovic (EWU) def. Ngo (UCR) 6-3, 6-2
5. Bendjelti (EWU) def. Vizcarra (UCR) 6-1, 6-2
6. Baumstach (UCR) def. Ness (EWU) 7-6 (5), 6-2