For the second straight day, the Chattanooga Mocs men’s tennis went down to the wire before falling 4-3 to a regional rival. Today’s loss came at the hands of Belmont at the Hixson Racquet Club.
“I know it was another tough 4-3 decision today but in reality our team played really well even though we didn’t have a great doubles performance,” stated head coach Carlos Garcia. “We have been a little bit blessed with having great doubles starts, but today obviously didn’t go our way.”
The Mocs (0-4) had won two of three doubles points coming into the match with the Bruins (4-1). Belmont dominated doubles with a 6-1 win at No. 1 and a 6-0 win at No. 2. They were leading at No. 3, but that match was called with the point already decided.
“The guys didn’t let that bother them and they came out and played the best singles that we have played all season,” said Garcia. “We had our backs against the wall, trying to win four points and we almost did.”
Belmont went up 2-0 when Marko Lovrinovic defeated senior Pavels Grigorjevs (6-1, 6-1) at No. 2. Sophomore Nic Wilson and junior Gino Delavalle helped UTC even the match at 2-2 with wins at No. 5 and No. 6 respectively. Marco Antu put Belmont back on top with his win over junior Nick Wingord at No. 1.
Junior Luke Saunders and sophomore Lucas Plesky both dropped their first sets at No. 3 and No. 4. They both battled back to force a third set. Saunders dropped his match just before Plesky won to close out the scoring at 4-3.
“The guys are really starting to feel more comfortable, so I think today was the start of brighter things to come,” stated Garcia.
Chattanooga travels to Memphis for its next match on Friday, Jan. 30. The next home match is Saturday, Feb. 7, against Jacksonville State at 1:00 p.m. at the Hixson Racquet Club. Check the men’s tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com for links to live scoring.
Belmont 4, Chattanooga 3
Jan 25, 2015 at Chattanooga (Hixson Racquet Club)
Doubles competition
1. Mauricio Antun/Marko Lovrinovic (BEL) def. Derrick Brown/Lucas Plesky (UTC) - 6-1
2. Robin Demasse/Cedric Dujacquier (BEL) def. Luke Saunders/Nick Wingord (UTC) - 6-0
3. Gino Delavalle/Nic Wilson (UTC) vs. Caio Niel/Bruno Russo (BEL) - 3-4, unfinished
Singles competition
1. Mauricio Antun (BEL) def. Nick Wingord (UTC) - 7-6 (6-0), 6-3
2. Marko Lovrinovic (BEL) def. Pavels Grigorjevs (UTC) - 6-1, 6-1
3. Cedric Dujacquier (BEL) def. Luke Saunders (UTC) - 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
4. Lucas Plesky (UTC) def. Robin Demasse (BEL) - 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
5. Nic Wilson (UTC) def. Geoff Tulloch (BEL) - 6-4, 6-2
6. Gino Delavalle (UTC) def. Bruno Russo (BEL) - 6-2, 6-4