Glendale, CA- A little extra work was needed in a few matches but ultimately the Firestorm tamed the Tigers of Occidental 8-1 on Wednesday.  Senior Ezequiel Suarez played a great match as he recorded the first win in singles.  All doubles action resulted in the same score of 8-4 ACU.

Doubles started the day with Junior Marcelo Balderrama and Sophomore Scott Wheeler setting the tone on court two as they were the first completed match with the 8-4 score.  Sophomore Enzo Douillac paired with Suarez to post the same final tally of 8-4 on the first court.  Junior Santiago Galeffi teamed up with Sophomore Gregoire Vincent- making his ACU debut- and they concluded their doubles effort with the same 8-4 score.

Head Coach Chris Tolson shook up his singles lineup to get other guys time on the court and rest several of his starters for a big weekend of opening GSAC play.

Suarez was inserted into the lineup all the way up at two and capitalized as he won 6-0 and 6-3.

Galeffi finished right on his heals as he earned straight wins of 6-2 and 6-0 on court four.  Galeffi's win sealed the team victory for the Firestorm (4-4).

Vincent won his first ACU singles match on court six in 6-4 and 6-0 fashion.

The final three singles matches needed a third set to decide the winner.  Court five saw Junior Luka Stanivukovic win his first set 6-2 but drop the next two including a super tie break third set 11-9.  Balderrama fell in his opening set but responded with wins of 7-5 in the second and 10-5 in the super tie break third.

Sophomore Alberto Lapiedra- the only Firestorm playing in his normal lineup spot- was uncharacteristically off his game falling 6-1 in the first set on court one.  But he rebounded nicely with 6-3 and 6-4 efforts to win the final match playing on the day.

Coach Tolson stated, "It was great to get more men some experience today.  The guys came out with a lot of energy and were aggressive."

On Thursday, the Firestorm will jump right into GSAC play as they face off with #10 San Diego Christian at Grossmont College.  The men will served it up at 12:00 pm.