The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team won it’s second match in a row Sunday against the Alabama State Hornets. This is the first time this season the Mocs have posted back-to-back wins.
“Anytime you win two in a row, and with a conference win thrown in there, it’s obviously a great feeling for us,” head coach Carlos Garcia said. “Winning two in a row is something we haven’t done this year. I’m happy the guys are able to feel a little success and hopefully gain some confidence.”
Chattanooga (4-7, 1-2 SoCon) was unable to start off hot early when they dropped all three of their doubles matches.
After doubles, the Mocs cranked up the pace and took the match with consecutive wins from Gino Delavalle, Luke Saunders, Derrick Brown, and Jorge Varon.
“Today was a team effort,” Garcia said. “We had a slow start but the second half of the match we played beautifully. I was happy to see us play as a whole instead of individually.”
This is the second time this weekend that the Mocs have dropped the doubles point and came back to win it in the singles.
“It’s nice to be singles heavy because there’s more points there,” Garcia said. ”I feel like we need to improve the doubles, because against the good teams we’re going to need both facets of the game.”
With the momentum rolling Chattanooga hopes to sustain the confidence for Murray State on March 20 at UTC.
“Confidence is a scary thing when you can get a hold of some from time to time,” Garcia said.
Chattanooga 6, Alabama State 1
Mar 9, 2014 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (UTC Tennis Courts)
Doubles competition
1. Dylan Cleary/Jarred Thompson (ASU) def. Jorge Varon/John Peacey (UTC) 8(7-4),7
2. Ronald Mataba/Adam Coyne (ASU) def. Pavels Grigorjevs/Gino Delavalle (UTC) 8(7-4)-7
3. Oliver Dedding/Connor Grady (ASU) def. Luke Saunders/Austin Boaz (UTC) 8-6
Singles Competition
1. Pavels Grigorjevs (UTC) def. Ronald Mataba (ASU) 7-6 (10-4), 5-7, 1(10-7)-0
2. Jorge Varon (UTC) def. Dylan Cleary (ASU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Luke Saunders (UTC) def. Takura Mlambo (ASU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Gino Delavalle (UTC) def. Stefan Vojnic (ASU) 6-2, 6-2
5. John Peacey (UTC) def. Jarred Thompson (ASU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Derrick Brown (UTC) def. Digvijay Narvka (ASU) 6-0, 6-2