Igor Schattan won at No. 3 singles to complete the Lee University men’s tennis comeback in a 5-4 win over University of Southern Indiana Friday afternoon at the DeVos Tennis Center.
The Flames (8-3) trailed 2-1 after doubles competition and needed to win four of the six singles matches to record the team win.
“It’s always tough to win from 1-2 down, but the guys did a fantastic job of battling on,” said Lee head coach Patric Hynes.
Rhys Milne and Jake Okines put Lee up 1-0 with an 8-3 mark over Andrew Dones and Samuel Kiladejo.
USI (4-8) evened the team score when Alexander Lawrenz and Ilia Karelin defeated Daniel Prata and Igor Schattan, 8-3, at No. 2 doubles.
The final doubles match needed a tie-breaker. Spencer Blanford and Martim Cafe held outscored Boyd Blackburn and Bruno Medeiros 7-1 in the tie-breaker to post the 9-8 doubles win.
Milne began the singles scoring with matching 6-3 scores against Kiladejo at the No. 1 spot to tie the team score at 2-2. Lawrenz and Blanford rattled off two straight wins for USI to put their team one singles win shy of the team victory.
Prata ended the Eagles’ win streak with a 6-4, 6-2 score at No. 6 singles. Blackburn defeated Cafe 6-4 and 6-4 at No. 4 singles to set up the No. 3 singles slot as the deciding match.
“Rhys got us off to a great start with his singles,” added Hynes. “It was probably one of the better matches I’ve seen Boyd play here. He was very focused and stuck to his game well. Daniel has been playing really well lately and he was solid all-day long. Igor was rock solid under pressure today for the clinch. He was on the other end of a heartbreaker last week, so it was big for him to come through today.”
Schattan claimed the opening set 6-4 and finished the straight-set win with a 6-3 margin in the second set to set off a Lee on-court celebration.
“Now we have to get ready for another battle against UNA. They’ve had our measure the last few years and it’s always a great battle with them. Looking forward to it,” added Hynes.
The Flames travel to Florence, Ala., to face North Alabama on Sunday. The GSC matchup is scheduled for a 10 a.m. EDT start.
LEE UNIVERSITY 5, SOUTHERN INDIANA 4
Singles competition
1. Rhys Milne (LEE-M) def. Samuel Kiladejo (USI) 6-3, 6-3
2. Alexander Lawrenz (USI) def. Jake Okines (LEE-M) 6-4, 6-4
3. Igor Schattan (LEE-M) def. Ilia Karelin (USI) 6-4, 6-3
4. Boyd Blackburn (LEE-M) def. Martim Cafe (USI) 6-4, 6-4
5. Spencer Blanford (USI) def. Bruno Medeiros (LEE-M) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
6. Daniel Prata (LEE-M) def. Kooper Falkenstein (USI) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Rhys Milne/Jake Okines (LEE-M) def. Andrew Dones/Samuel Kiladejo (USI) 8-3
2. Alexander Lawrenz/Ilia Karelin (USI) def. Daniel Prata/Igor Schattan (LEE-M) 8-3
3. Spencer Blanford/Martim Cafe (USI) def. Boyd Blackburn/Bruno Medeiros (LEE-M) 9-8 (7-1)