The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team dropped a tight 4-2 match to visiting Georgia Southern this afternoon. The Mocs fell behind 3-0 before rallying late. The Eagles held off the charge to improve to 4-15 overall and 3-4 in Southern Conference action. Chattanooga dropped to 6-11 and 1-6 in league play.
Inclement weather in the Chattanooga area moved the match to the indoor courts at the Hixson Racquet Club. Doubles action was fierce with the last two going to tiebreakers.
Albert Codina Sala and Christian Kerrigan took No. 3 for GSU with an 8-5 win over sophomores Gino Delavalle and Luke Saunders. Junior Pavels Grigorjevs and freshman Derrick Brown won for the first time as a duo this spring with an 8-7 victory over Marco Osorio and Nico DeGroof at No. 2. They took the tiebreaker 7-5 to keep UTC alive in doubles play.
That left the No. 1 match between Chattanooga senior Jorge Varon and sophomore John Peacey and GSU’s Oliver Webb and Kyle Hoffman. This one also went to a tiebreaker, but the extra fame was all Eagles. They won 7-1 take a 1-0 lead in the team tally.
Georgia Southern kept the momentum going with two quick wins in singles action. Trailing 3-0, UTC tried to mount a comeback, led by Grigorjevs’ win over Webb at No. 1. Varon followed that with a win at No. 2, and both Saunders and freshman Austin Boaz were leading in their matches at No. 3 and No. 6, respectively.
Saunders won the first set 7-6 against Osorio, but dropped the second 7-5. He was leading 3-0 in the third and looked like he had the tying point wrapped up.
At the same time, Boaz stormed back to take the second set 7-6 after being shut out in the first. He was up 3-2 in the third, but wound up dropping the final frame 6-4. That clinched the match for Georgia Southern and Saunders bout at No. 3 was not completed.
The Mocs next hit the road for a Sunday match at Appalachian State. First serve is set for 11:00 a.m. and a link for live scoring is available on the men’s tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com.
Georgia Southern 4, Chattanooga 2
Apr 04, 2014 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (Hixson Racquet Club)
Doubles competition
1. Oliver Webb/Kyle Hoffman (GSU) def. Jorge Varon/John Peacey (UTC) - 8-7 (7-1)
2. Pavels Grigorjevs/Derrick Brown (UTC) def. Marco Osorio/Nico DeGroof (GSU) - 8-7 (7-5)
3. Albert Codina Sala/Christian Kerrigan (GSU) def. Gino Delavalle/Luke Saunders (UTC) - 8-5
Singles competition
1. Pavels Grigorjevs (UTC) def. Oliver Webb (GSU) - 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
2. Jorge Varon (UTC) def. Kyle Hoffman (GSU) - 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
3. Luke Saunders (UTC) vs. Marco Osorio (GSU) - 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 3-0, unfinished
4. Nico DeGroof (GSU) def. Gino Delavalle (UTC) - 6-2, 6-4
5. Albert Codina Sala (GSU) def. John Peacey (UTC) - 6-2, 6-2
6. Christian Kerrigan (GSU) def. Austin Boaz (UTC) - 6-0, 6-7 (10-12), 6-4
Match Notes
Georgia Southern 4-15, 3-4 SoCon
Chattanooga 6-11, 1-6 SoCon
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,5,1,2,6)