The Lee University tennis teams finished their home schedule with a sweep of Tennessee Wesleyan University Tuesday afternoon at the DeVos Tennis Center. The Flames outscored the visitors 7-2 and the Lady Flames won 5-2.
Lee travels to Clinton, Miss., on Saturday for their final regular-season matches of the season. The Gulf South Conference matches against Mississippi College are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. EDT.
FLAMES 7, TWU 2
“This was a tough win,” admitted Lee head coach Patric Hynes.
“We needed to perform in doubles today. The guys came out and executed well. Jake (Okines) and Boyd (Blackburn) got us off to a great start and the other two pairs stood up well under pressure.”
Lee (10-5) swept the doubles competition to build a 3-0 lead. Okines and Blackburn sprinted past Jaime Llardo and Sergio Lapaz, 8-1. Wes Lemke and Daniel Prata held on to beat Mauricio Muniz and Caio Bardauil by a 9-7 margin. Rhys Milne and Igor Schattan were 8-6 winners over Bernet Parses and Andre Kaloussieh.
Milne used a 7-1 score in a second-set tie-breaker to complete the straight-set win at No. 1 singles. Blackburn downed Lapaz 6-0, 6-2 and Lemke posted an 8-2 super-set win over Kaloussieh. Schattan lost his opening set to Bardauil, 6-4, before winning the final two sets 6-2 and 6-1.
TWU, 10-3 and ranked No. 23 in the NAIA, claimed wins at No. 2 and No. 4 singles. Parses defeated Prata 6-4, 6-3 in the fourth slot. Teodor Deljanovski and Llardo battled in the only singles match to go three sets with each set needing a tie-breaker. Llardo won the first-set tie-breaker, 7-5, and Deljanovski was a 10-8 tie-break winner in the second set. The match finally came to an end with Llardo holding a 7-2 advantage in the third-set tie-breaker.
“We’ve lost a few matches to these guys over the years,” added Hynes. “They are well coached and it felt good to be on the other side today. We have another battle coming up at Mississippi College on Saturday.”
LADY FLAMES 5, TWU 2
The Lady Flames claimed four singles wins on its way to the non-conference victory. The Lady Flames improved to 8-5 overall, while the Lady Bulldogs dropped to 10-7.
“We’ve had a few injuries on our team, but the girls have shown great resilience,” said Hynes. “Today was a good fighting win. Marta (Garcia-Nieto) and Asia (Grzegrzolka) started us off well and everyone fought hard in singles. Now we need to get ready for another tough on at Mississippi College on Saturday.”
Lee and TWU split the two doubles matches that were played. Grzegrzolka and Garcia-Nieto were 8-1 winners against Wendi Watson and Rachael Walker. Krista Good and Laura Beth Hardesty fell 8-3 to Arianna Pelletti and Giovanna Alves.
Garcia-Nieto gave Lee a quick lead in singles competition with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Walker. Grzegrzolka pushed the margin to 3-1 with a 6-0, 6-3 mark against Watson. Good posted matching 6-3 scores in both sets to win at No. 3 singles.
Natasha Bastos ended Lee’s streak with a three-set win over Hardesty. Hardesty won the opening set 6-3 before Bastos forced a final set with a 6-3 score in the second set. In the final set, Bastos edged Hardesty 10-8 for the match.
Nicole Shennett needed three sets to post the win at No. 5 singles. Shennett won the first set against Alves, 6-4, dropped the second, 6-2, and won the third 10-8.
FLAMES 7, TENNESSEE WESLEYAN 2
Singles competition
1. Rhys Milne (LEE-M) def. Mauricio Muniz (TWU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-1)
2. Jaime Llardo (TWU) def. Teodor Deljanovski (LEE-M) 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-2)
3. Igor Schattan (LEE-M) def. Caio Bardauil (TWU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
4. Bernet Parses (TWU) def. Daniel Prata (LEE-M) 6-4, 6-3
5. Boyd Blackburn (LEE-M) def. Sergio Lapaz (TWU) 6-0, 6-2
6. Westley Lemke (LEE-M) def. Andre Kaloussieh (TWU) 8-2
Doubles competition
1. Rhys Milne/Igor Schattan (LEE-M) def. Bernet Parses/Andre Kaloussieh (TWU) 8-6
2. Jake Okines/Boyd Blackburn (LEE-M) def. Jaime Llardo/Sergio Lapaz (TWU) 8-1
3. Westley Lemke/Daniel Prata (LEE-M) def. Mauricio Muniz/Caio Bardauil (TWU) 9-7
LADY FLAMES 5, TENNESSEE WESLEYAN 2
Singles competition
1. Joanna Grzegrzolka (LEE-W) def. Wendi Watson (TWU) 6-0, 6-3
2. Marta Garcia-Nieto (LEE-W) def. Rachael Walker (TWU) 6-0, 6-1
3. Krista Good (LEE-W) def. Arianna Pelletti (TWU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Natasha Bastos (TWU) def. Laura Beth Hardesty (LEE-W) 3-6, 6-3, 10-8
5. Nicole Shennett (LEE-W) def. Giovanna Alves (TWU) 6-4, 2-6, 10-8
Doubles competition
1. Joanna Grzegrzolka/Marta Garcia-Nieto (LEE-W) def. Wendi Watson/Rachael Walker (TWU) 8-1
2. Arianna Pelletti/Giovanna Alves (TWU) def. Krista Good/Laura Beth Hardesty (LEE-W) 8-3