The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team dropped a 6-1 match to Samford today. The Mocs fell to 7-13 overall and 1-5 in Southern Conference play with the loss at the Champions Club.
The Mocs were down in all three doubles matches early, but battled back in each. Trailing 5-2, senior Nick Wingord and sophomore Michael Birnbaum almost pushed their No. 3 match to extra frame, but lost 6-4 to Fares Kilani and Justin Ghavami.
Senior John Peacey and junior Derrick Brown were down 3-0 before forcing a tiebreaker at No.
2. Samford claimed the doubles point when they won the breaker 7-5.
Senior Luke Saunders and junior Lucas Plesky were also down big to Trey Carter and Leonard Gerch at No. 1. The Samford duo was 5-1 in SoCon matches coming into the day, but the Mocs scored a big 7-6 (7-5) win to close out doubles action. It was Plesky and Saunders sixth win in a row as they moved to 4-1 in league play.
The Mocs tried to hang in with Samford in singles, who improved to 12-4 overall and wrapped up second in the league at 6-1. Peacey posted a (6-2, 6-2) win over Gerch at No. 4. The Bulldogs responded with three straight-set wins to clinch the victory.
Plesky and Brown were in three-set battles at No. 1 and No. 6, but lost both in superbreakers.
The Mocs close out the regular season with a home match against UNCG on Saturday. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m. (E.D.T.) at the Champions Club.
Samford 6, Chattanooga 1
Apr 13, 2016 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (Champions Club)
Doubles competition
1. Lucas Plesky/Luke Saunders (UTC) def. Trey Carter/Leonard Gerch (SAM) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Jake Faundez/Eduardo L. Sanchez (SAM) def. John Peacey/Derrick Brown (UTC) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Fares Kilani/Justin Ghavami (SAM) def. Michael Birnbaum/Nick Wingord (UTC) 6-4
Singles competition
1. Fares Kilani (SAM) def. Lucas Plesky (UTC) 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6)
2. Trey Carter (SAM) def. Luke Saunders (UTC) 6-3, 6-2
3. Justin Ghavami (SAM) def. Nick Wingord (UTC) 6-4, 6-0
4. John Peacey (UTC) def. Leonard Gerch (SAM) 6-2, 6-2
5. Jake Faundez (SAM) def. Pablo Llebeili (UTC) 6-2, 6-4
6. Eduardo L. Sanchez (SAM) def. Derrick Brown (UTC) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-1)