The Lee University men's Tennis Team fell to No. 26 ranked Mississippi College in the Gulf South Men's Tennis Championship Quarterfinal 4-2 on Saturday.
The Flames fought hard in singles matches, winning two. In both sets, Lee’s Filipe Krohn beat Sergio Ocana 6-2. Francisco Faria defeated Alex Blanchard 7-5 in the first set and 6-3 in the second set.
However, Lee struggled in the other matches with Choctaw’s Rafael Sabio beating Flames’ Wihan van der Merwe 6-4 in the first set and 6-2 in the second set. Lee’s Quinn Groenendijk started off strong in the first set beating Joe Jarvis 7-5 in the first set. However ,in the second and third set, Jarvis defeated Groenendijk 6-2. Lee’s Jordi Dasi was able to win against Mississippi College’s Alvaro Saint Martin in the second set 6-4, however, Saint Martin won sets one and three with the same score.
The Choctaws won three out of four doubles matches against Lee. Flames’ Merwe and Dasi beat Jarvis and Saint Martin 6-3. Choctaws’ Blanchard and Sabio won against Flames’ Krohn and Faria 6-3. Mississippi College’s Diego De Cooman and Antoine Nivault defeated Lee’s Quinn Groenendijk and Mike Groenendijk 6-4.
The Flames season officially come to end with a record of 11-4.
The Lee women fell to No. 26th ranked Valdosta State in Friday’s Gulf South Conference Women's Tennis Championship Quarterfinal by a score 4-0.
In singles, the Lady Flames were not able to win any of the three finished singles’ matches. Lee’s Kanna Kobayakawa lost to Blazer’s Aneta Poborilova 6-1 in the first set and 6-2 in the second set. Sophomore Maria Fernanda Duarte lost to Blazers’ Oliva Pezo 6-0 in the first set and 6-2 in the second set. Senior Hayden Smith lost to VSU’s Evelyn Altmaier 6-1 in the first set and 6-0 in the second set making it Altmaier’s eighth win of the season.
Similar to the men's doubles, the Lady Flames were only able to win one out of three matches. In the first doubles match, Maria Fernanda Duarte and Ashleigh Simes were to defeat VSU’s Denisa Hanakova and Olivia Pezo 6-1. In the second match Lee’s Kanna Kobayakawa and Maria Penalver Aguilo lost 6-3 to Blazers’ Kayla Greco and Aneta Poborilova. In the third match Flames’ Elizaveta Gnilozubova and Mirjana Ragastovac lost to Valdostate’s Evelyn Altmaier and Natalie Rainke 6-4.
The Lady Flames season comes to an end after finishing the season 9-7 completing back-to-back seasons above .500 overall.