The No. 37 Lee University women’s tennis team lost its second match of the season in a 6-1 defeat to No. 10 West Alabama in a Gulf South Conference (GSC) matchup Saturday afternoon at the DeVos Tennis Center. The Lady Flames now stand at 7-2 and 2-1 in the GSC. The Tigers remain unbeaten at 15-0 and 8-0 in the GSC.
UWA claimed the doubles point with 6-1 wins at both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. The No. 2 doubles match was left unfinished.
Heden Ly beat Matina Ujdur 6-3, 6-2 to begin singles competition. Yurie Takanishi won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles against Micaela Maiz. In a battle of ranked players, No. 68 Haina Franco won the last two sets to defeat No. 40 Ashleigh Simes to clinch the team victory. Simes posted a 6-2 advantage in the opening set. Franco won the second set 7-6 following a 7-4 tiebreaker and completed the comeback 6-4 in the third set.
Miri Takanishi took down Maria Duarte 6-4, 6-2 at No. 5 singles and Hardija Vidnere won both sets 6-4 against Elizaveta Gnilozubova at the fourth position.
Hayden Smith ended the visitor’s hopes of a shutout with a win at No. 6 singles. Smith dropped just three games in a 6-0, 6-3 win over Morgan Bishop.
The Lady Flames return to action on Wednesday, March 22, at Young Harris College. The non-conference meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT.
The ninth ranked men’s tennis team was defeated by No. 22 West Alabama 5-2 in a Gulf South Conference (GSC) matchup Saturday afternoon at the DeVos Tennis Center. The Flames have now lost two straight and stand at 9-2 and 2-1 in the GSC. The Tigers improve to 10-4, 5-2 GSC.
UWA’s fifth-ranked doubles team of Marcel Hornung and Lucas Hammond opened doubles competition with a 6-3 win over Nico Ramirez and Jordi Dasi. Mike and Quinn Groenendijk held off No. 35 Ilia Dehodiuk and Ilari Venanen 6-4 to tie the doubles at 1-1 and leaving the No. 3 doubles match to decide who gets the point. Wilson Igbinovia and Nuutti Jokinen gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with a 6-4 win over Wihan Van Der Merwe and Drew Johnston.
Jokinen started singles competition with a 7-5, 6-2 score against Dasi. No. 23 Ramirez cut the Lee deficit in half with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of No. 72 Vesanen at No. 1 singles.
Igbinovia pushed UWA back up two with a three-set win against Van Der Merwe. Van Der Merwe won their opening set 6-4. Igbinovia claimed the second set with a 9-7 tiebreaker and rode the momentum to a 6-3 score in the third set. Hammond beat Johnston 6-4 and 6-2 at the fifth position to clinch the win for UWA.
Quinn Groenendijk posted a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 4 singles against Loic Danze. Dehodiuk supplied the final team score with a three-set win over Mike Groenendijk at No. 6 singles. Groenendijk won the first set 6-3 and lost the second 6-4. Dehodiuk completed the comeback with a 10-6 super set tiebreaker.
The Flames return to action on Wednesday, March 22, at Young Harris College. The non-conference meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT.