Despite losing the opening doubles point, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team jumped out to a 2-1 lead over Georgia State in the first match of the spring season for both teams. The Mocs fought hard in the remaining singles bouts, but eventually fell to the Panthers 5-2.
GSU brought a No. 63 national ranking to the Hixson Racquet Club tonight, but the experienced Mocs were able to get a pair of singles wins. Senior Manuel Barroetavena (Buenos Aires, Argentina) led the way with wins in singles and doubles action. He scored a (6-2, 6-1) victory over Paul Schuette at No. 3, tying the match at 1-1.
Freshman Luke Saunders (Halifax, Nova Scotia) had an impressive debut, winning his first collegiate match at No. 6. Saunders is one of three freshmen who joined the team at the semester break, complimenting that includes seven seniors and one sophomore. He posted a (6-0, 6-2) win against over Chinmay Handa at No. 6 to give UTC the 2-1 advantage.
The Mocs lost the first set in all four of the other matches. Despite some strong performances, none of the remaining contests went to three sets and UTC fell to 0-1 on the year.
Barroetavena and senior Jackson Tresnan (Apopka, Fla.) scored the lone doubles win tonight. They defeated Schuette and Thomas Cook (8-6) at No. 3 after the point was already decided.
Chattanooga is back on the court on Sunday, Jan. 20. The Mocs host Tennessee Tech at the Hixson Racquet Club at 10:00 a.m. (E.S.T.). Live scoring will be available on the men's tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com.
#63 Georgia State 5, Chattanooga 2
Doubles competition
1. Lucas Santa Ana/Victor Valente (GSU) def. Ankit Chopra/Roberto Vieira (UTC) 8-2
2. Robert Schulze/Sofiane Chevallier (GSU) def. Chris Smith/Luke Saunders (UTC) 8-5
3. Manuel Barroetavena/Jackson Tresnan (UTC) def. Thomas Cook/Paul Schuette (GSU) 8-6
Singles competition
1. #54 Victor Valente (GSU) def. Chris Smith (UTC) 6-1, 6-3
2. Thomas Cook (GSU) def. Roberto Vieira (UTC) 6-2, 6-3
3. Manuel Barroetavena (UTC) def. Paul Schuette (GSU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Lucas Santa Ana (GSU) def. Pavels Grigorjevs (UTC) 6-0, 6-4
5. Robert Schulze (GSU) def. Ankit Chopra (UTC) 6-2, 6-4
6. Luke Saunders (UTC) def. Chinmay Handa (GSU) 6-0, 6-2