FULLERTON – Hope International men's tennis came close to knocking off a nationally ranked opponent on Saturday at the Fullerton Tennis Center, but fell 4-3 to No. 25 Stanton.

It was the second matchup this season between these two teams after the Royals had lost 5-2 on February 20.

The Royals positioned them nicely at the outset for the upset by winning the doubles point. Karan Srivastava and Thomas Folsom downed Oleksandr Kolesnychenko and Lemiel Kei at No. 1, while Reid Lizardo and Sebastien Dizon Perez upended Egor Pishchelev and Matthias Bigot at No. 2.

Both pairs won by identical 7-5 scores.

HIU got two wins in the singles rounds. Lizardo was an impressive 6-1, 6-0 winner over Pishchelev on court No. 2. Mohamed El Sheikh earned a tidy 6-3, 6-4 victory over Achille Scattolin at No. 6. 

But the Elks were dominant at the other four singles positions. They surrendered just three games combined in wins at No. 3 and No. 5. 

Kolesnychenko at No. 1 and Bigot at No. 3 were identical 6-3, 6-3 winners against Srivastava and Kaito Henderson, respectively.

Still, it was an important step for HIU in its continued improvement this season.

The Royals next take on Occidental College on Tuesday, March 10 at 3:00 p.m.

MEN'S TENNIS
Hope International vs. #25 Stanton
FULLERTON TENNIS CENTER
3/7/26

Doubles
1. Karan Srivastava/Thomas Folsom (HIU) def. Oleksandr Kolesnychenko/Lemiel Kei (STAN) – 7-5
2. Reid Lizardo/Sebastien Dizon Perez (HIU) def. Egor Pishchelev/Matthias Bigot (STAN) – 7-5
3. Yohann Molle/Achille Scattolin (STAN) def. Dylan Barrett/Kaito Henderson (HIU) – 6-0

Singles
1. Oleksandr Kolesnychenko (STAN) def. Karan Srivastava (HIU) – 6-3, 6-3
2. Reid Lizardo (HIU) def. Egor Pishchelev (STAN) – 6-1, 6-0
3. Yohann Molle (STAN) def. Thomas Folsom (HIU) – 6-0, 6-1
4. Matthias Bigot (STAN) def. Kaito Henderson (HIU) – 6-3, 6-3
5. Sebastian Koster (STAN) def. Sebastien Dizon Perez (HIU) – 6-1, 6-1
6. Mohamed El Sheikh (HIU) def. Achille Scattolin (STAN) – 6-3, 6-4