The Lee University tennis teams were defeated 9-0 by visiting University of West Florida in Gulf South Conference (GSC) matches Saturday morning at the DeVos Tennis Center.
“We got to compete against benchmark programs in our conference and nationally,” said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. “I'm proud that we fought as hard as we could. These are programs we are striving to be in the future, so it was good to see what we need to do to get there.”
UWF’s men are ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II.
The women’s team is ranked No. 7 nationally and are No. 4 in the South Region.
The Lady Flames and Flames will have a little time off to prepare for their next match. The two squads are scheduled to host Lees-McRae College at 2 p.m. on March 17.
No. 7 WEST FLORIDA 9, LADY FLAMES 0
West Florida (6-1, 4-0 GSC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Lady Flames (4-3, 1-3 GSC) following doubles competition. The Argos claimed an 8-0 score and two 8-3 marks, including a win by the No. 10-ranked doubles team of Monika Kochanova and Laure-Eline Faure over Tonya McGraner and Maclain Yowarsky.
Three of the six singles matches were decided by 6-0, 6-0 scores. Krista Good won three games, while Marta Garcia-Nieto and Jodie Rice each won two games.
The win for West Florida was their 46th consecutive against GSC competition.
No. 1 WEST FLORIDA 9, FLAMES 0
West Florida (7-0, 4-0 GSC) won the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches by a combined 16-4 score, but found a tougher road against Rhys Milne and Daniel Hardesty at No. 1 doubles. The Lee duo was edged by Elio Latella and Douglas Boe, 9-7, to put Lee (1-5, 0-3 GSC) in an early 3-0 hole.
UWF would drop just two games combined in wins at No. 6 and No 3 singles to secure the team win. Milne battled No. 30-ranked Kenny Brasil at No. 2 singles. Milne fell 6-3 in the opening set before being shut out in the second.
Ignacio Salom was put up against Alex Peyrot, the eighth-ranked player in NCAA Division II. Salom would take three games from Peyrot in the first set and two more in the second.
Straight-set wins by West Florida at No. 4 and No. 5 singles would provide the final margin.
#7 West Florida 9, Lady Flames 0
Doubles competition
1. #10 Monika Kochanova/Laure-Eline Faure (UWF) def. Tonya McGraner/Maclain Yowarsky (LU) 8-3
2. Nina Bubelova/Fernanda Amaral (UWF) def. Krista Good/Marta Garcia-Nieto (LU) 8-3
3. Kat Dikosavljevic/Francesca Fanchin (UWF) def. Jodie Rice/Christy North (LU) 8-0
Singles competition
1. Laure-Eline Faure (UWF) def. Tonya McGraner (LU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Nina Bubelova (UWF) def. Marta Garcia-Nieto (LU) 6-2, 6-0
3. Kat Dikosavljevic (UWF) def. Maclain Yowarsky (LU) 6-0, 6-0
4. Fernanda Amaral (UWF) def. Krista Good (LU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Sarai Flores (UWF) def. Jodie Rice (LU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Francesca Fanchin (UWF) def. Morgan Friedlander (LU) 6-0, 6-0
#1 West Florida 9, Flames 0
Doubles competition
1. Elio Latella/Douglas Boe (UWFM) def. Rhys Milne/Daniel Hardesty (LU) 9-7
2. Alex Peyrot/Kenny Brasil (UWFM) def. Ignacio Salom/Westley Lemke (LU) 8-4
3. Pablo Borrero/Pablo Tellez (UWFM) def. Kip Kahler/Garrett Byrd (LU) 8-0
Singles competition
1. #8 Alex Peyrot (UWFM) def. Ignacio Salom (LU) 6-3, 6-2
2. #30 Kenny Brasil (UWFM) def. Rhys Milne (LU) 6-3, 6-0
3. Pablo Borrero (UWFM) def. Daniel Hardesty (LU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Elio Latella (UWFM) def. Westley Lemke (LU) 6-3, 6-0
5. Douglas Boe (UWFM) def. Kip Kahler (LU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Pablo Tellez (UWFM) def. Garrett Byrd (LU) 6-0, 6-0