Air Force Academy
Hawaii-Hilo
Falcons Win First Match on Hawaii Trip
3/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 24, 2011
The Air Force men's tennis team halted a three-match losing streak with a 5-2 victory over Hawaii-Hilo Thursday in Waipahu, Hawaii. With the victory, Air Force improved to 9-5 this spring.
UHH opened the match by winning the doubles point. Air Force did, however, win the No. 2 doubles match as senior Taylor Soster and freshman Lucas Marin-Salcedo downed Ryan Coffey and Bryan Canavan, 8-4.
Soster and Marin-Salcedo joined three other Falcons to win in singles. Soster was the first off the court with a 6-3, 7-5 win at the No. 4 spot over Justin Dugan, followed by sophomore Lance Wilhelm winning the No. 1 match, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 over Stephen Royalty. Marin-Salcedo gave Air Force a 3-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 2 over Carlos Quijano, but the Vulcans cut the lead to 3-2 with their only singles win as Coffey rallied to beat AFA freshman Andy Jackson, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3.
Freshman Steven Young clinched the team match for the Falcons with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 triumph over Larson Oliva at No. 6 and freshman Alex Grubbs won the No. 5 match, 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 over Canavan.
"I'm happy our guys got back on the winning track today," said head coach Dan Oosterhous. "We came out strong in singles after losing the doubles point but Hilo kept fighting and forced us to close out lots of tight matches. Our team captain Taylor Soster showed great leadership today on the court, winning both his matches and turned the match around with his determined and focused effort."
Air Force 5, Hawaii-Hilo 2
March 24, 2011
Waipahu, Hawaii
Singles
1. Lance Wilhelm (AF) def. Stephen Royalty, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. Lucas Marin-Salcedo (AF) def. Carlos Quijano, 6-2, 6-4
3. Ryan Coffey (UHH) def. Andy Jackson, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. Taylor Soster (AF) def. Justin Dugan, 6-3, 7-5
5. Alex Grubbs (AF) def. Bryan Canavan, 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4
6. Steven Young (AF) def. Larson Oliva, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 2, 3, 6, 5
Doubles
1. Royalty / Dugan (UHH) def. Wilhelm / Jackson, 8-5
2. Soster / Marin-Salcedo (AF) def. Coffey / Canavan, 8-4
3. Quijano / Kallen Mizuguchi (UHH) def. Grubbs / Ali Rizvi, 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Here is Thursday's blog from freshman Alex Grubbs:
Thursday here in Hawaii started out with a breakfast in a new, very nice hotel that we moved to on Wednesday evening. The breakfast was a very nice buffet where we all got our fill, ready for another match in 2 hours time.
After a short warm-up, intros were done and we went on the court for doubles. Taylor Soster and Lucas Marin-Salcedo had a great victory at 2 doubles, but lines 1 and 3 did not play very well despite being the better players. We lost the doubles point but came out strong in singles. Lucas and Taylor both won in 2 sets but the other 4 matches all had hard fought 3 set matches. Steven Young clinched our 4th win at 6. I was the last to come off the court, and as soon as I came off, much to my annoyance, the whole team sang happy birthday to me.
After the victory and lunch at Quizno's, we came back to the hotel to relax until 7 when we would meet in the lobby to go to dinner. During that time period in between, Andy Jackson, Alex Lineberry, and myself watched The A-Team on Andy's computer, which I am now using to type this blog. The rest of the team went to the beach to get some sun. Dinner was at the Shore Bird, a cook-your-own meat resturant on the shores of Waikiki. After dinner, they brought out a cake for my birthday where they once again (and again much to my annoyance) sang happy birthday to me. After a team photo on the beach, Ali Rizvi, Steven Young, and Lucas Marin-Salcedo, stayed behind to sing karaoke.
A great day and ready for our last match versus Cal-Poly.
Players Mentioned
