The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team dropped a tough 4-2 match to Georgia Southern at the Racquet Club in Hixson today. Trailing 3-1, the Mocs tried to mount a comeback, but came up just a few games short.
The Eagles took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Senior Nic Wilson and freshman Niklas Gerdes were up 5-2 at No. 2, but that match did not finish once Georgia Southern clinched the point.
The Eagles went up 2-0 with a quick win at No.
4 singles, but Wilson respond with a point at No. 3. He defeated Santiago Suarez (6-4, 6-1) for his first singles win of the spring.
"That was a huge win for Nic Wilson," stated UTC head coach Carlos Garcia. "It helped us get some momentum going and gave us a chance at the end of the match."
Georgia Southern made it 3-1 after a win at No. 6. Down two points with three matches left Chattanooga needed to sweep No. 1, 2, and 5 to get the win. Senior Lucas Plesky and Gerdes were both up a set at No. 1 and No. 2, while freshman Simon Bustamante had dropped a tiebreaker in the first frame at No. 5.
Gerdes was trailing 5-2 in the second set against Eddie Landin, but eventually took the second set in a tiebreaker (7-2). That closed the gap to 3-2 with two matches left.
Bustamante won his second set (6-4), but Plesky lost his second frame in a tiebreaker. Bustamante was up 5-4 serving for the match to tie the team score, but Plesky dropped his third set. He was tied with JC Alcala 3-3, but was broken twice to lose the final frame 6-3.
"All-in-all, it was outstanding tennis this weekend," added Garcia. "We are getting better each time out and we are going to continue to improve as the season progresses."
The loss drops UTC to 1-5 overall, while Georgia Southern improved to 5-4. Up next for the Mocs is a trip to Northern Kentucky on Saturday, Feb. 11. UTC takes on the Norse at 4:00 p.m. in Highland Heights, Ky. A link for live scoring is available on the men's tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com.