Fresno State closed out the regular season and honored its senior student-athletes with a 7-0 shutout win over Pacific, Saturday at the Wathen Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs (18-4) honored seniors Remi Boutillier, David Ayoun and Jean-Charles Diame ”” whom all hail from France ”” in front of a loyal crowd before their final home match.
For Boutillier, Saturday not only meant his final regular season competition as a Bulldog, but he also won his 100th-career doubles match. Boutillier and partner Francis Alcantara beat Pacific’s Ivan Castro and Alex Hamilton, 8-3, to clinch the doubles point.
In then No. 2 slot, Ayoun and partner Zachary Leslie downed Erik Cedarwall and Valentin Goncalves, 8-4. Pacific defaulted No. 3 doubles match due to an incomplete lineup. During the break before singles play, the seniors celebrated their fans.
“It feels great,” Diame said. “It’s been a great two yeras with my teammates and I’m proud of everythig we’ve accomplished. I have no regrets.”
Ayoun agreed Diame and said he too does not have any regrets during his time at Fresno State.
“I’m definitely going to miss having home matches because we have such loylal fans who support us and have been there for me for three years,” Ayoun said. “But we still have matches to play. I know all of us want to see that we do the best we can through the end of the season.”
Ayoun is in his third year at Fresno State while Diame, a transfer from Ouachita Baptist University, has spent the previous two as a Bulldog. Boutillier entered the program as a freshman and has since become the most veteran player on the team.
“I [had] mixed feelings about [Saturday],” Boutillier said. “On one hand I’m really happy about the win and the season so far and on the other I’m sad that my four years as a Bulldog are almost over.”
Boutillier did not have much to say about about achieving 100 doubles wins.
“Honestly, I wasn’t keeping track of my wins so I didn’t know until after the match.”
Fresno State continued its sweep into singles play, starting with a 2-0 lead over Pacific, which defaulted at No. 6 singles. In the No. 1 spot, Boutillier downed Castro 6-1, 6-0, while at No. 2 Alcantara clinched the team win with a 6-3, 6-0, defeat over Cederwall.
At No. 3, Diame bested Goncalves, 6-4, 3-6, 10-1 with freshman Reid DeLaubenfels downing Jainendra Grewal, 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 in the No. 5 spot.
Ayoun closed out the match for the Bulldogs with a 7-6(7), 6-1, win over Hamilton in the No. 4 spot.
The Bulldogs, who clinched the regular season Western Athletic Conference championship, are the top seed heading into this week’s WAC Championships in Las Cruces, N.M.