The Dalton State men’s tennis team suffered its second loss of the season against four wins. The Roadrunners dropped Tuesday’s match at Lakeshore Park Tennis Center, 6-3, to NCAA Division II opponent North Georgia University. The match was a make-up of a previously scheduled match between the two neighbors.
Coming off an impressive road victory last Friday at SCAD-Atlanta, the Roadrunners could not maintain the momentum against one of the strongest teams in the state at the NCAA Division II level.
While the Roadrunners were not able to extend their win streak, there were many bright spots. Nikolay Nikiforov continued his strong play by taking both his singles match and winning in doubles while teamed with Adam Hornby. Lucas de Souza also was strong for the Roadrunners in taking his singles match in straight sets.
“North Georgia was a great test,” said men’s coach Zack Rogers. “We played better in doubles than we have been, but we obviously struggled a bit more than expected in singles.”
“This is all part of our maturation process” Rogers added.
“Leading into a full week of tennis, we have a lot of room to get better and many things to work on.”
The men travel to Point University in West Point, GA this Friday before embarking on a six day trip to Hilton Head Island to participate in the annual Spring Fest Tournament.
“We will keep working and keep getting better,” said Rogers. “Next week we will play a lot of tennis and the team is chomping at the bit to get back to action and to winning.”
Results:
Doubles
Hornby/Nikiforov (DS) defeated Santos/Gantt (NGU) 8-3
Mistr/Reinaur (NGU) defeated Arguello/Souza (DS) 8-1
Camasie/Magan (NGU) defeated Fava/Draghiceanu (DS) 8-4
Singles
Camasie (NGU) def. Draghiceanu (DS) 6-0, 6-2
Nikiforov (DS) def. Magan (NGU) 3-6, 6-0, 10
-7
Santos (NGU) def. Hornby (DS) 6-0, 6-1
Reinaur (NGU) def. Fava (DS) 6-1, 6-0
Souza (DS) def. Mistr (NGU) 6-3, 6-2
Kostadinov (GGC) def. Arguello (DS) 6-0, 6-2