The No. 7 Lee University men’s tennis team lost for the third time this season after falling 5-2 to No. 3 Valdosta State University Wednesday afternoon at the DeVos Tennis Center. The Flames are now 11-3 overall and 4-2 in the Gulf South Conference (GSC). The Blazers remain unbeaten at 10-0 and 5-0 in conference.
“We had some opportunities, credit to Valdosta for finding ways to win today,” said Lee University head coach Patric Hynes. “I think if you’re finding positives, this match shows our group that we have enough talent to achieve the goals we set for ourselves.
It’s just going to take much more than just ability to do that.”
VSU gained an early advantage in doubles competition after their 34th-ranked team of Luca Mack and Rodrigo Carvalho held off Nico Ramirez and Francisco Faria 6-4. Lamar Bartley and Christian Felline needed a tiebreaker score of 7-3 to defeat No. 44 Mike and Quinn Groenendijk 7-6 at No. 2 doubles and secure the team point for the visitors. The No. 3 doubles match was left unfinished with the score tied 6-6.
Ramirez and Mack met in a battle of ranked players at No. 1 singles. Mack, ranked No. 3, needed three sets to defeat No. 21 Ramirez. Mack won the first and third sets by 6-1 margins, Ramirez won the second set 6-3.Lamar Bartley extended the VSU lead to 3-0 at No. 3 singles against Jordi Dasi. Bartley won the opening set with a 7-2 tiebreaker and the second set 6-3.
Faria, ranked No. 62, ended VSU’s hopes of a shutout with a three-set win over Carvalho. Faria and Carvalho traded 6-4 wins in the first two sets before Faria outlasted Carvalho 9-7 in a third-set tiebreaker for the win.
Quinn Groenendijk cut the VSU lead to one with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles against Felline.
No. 71 Christian Wedel clinched the team win for VSU with a win against Wihan Van Der Merwe at the fourth position. Wedel claimed the first set 6-4 and posted a 7-4 tiebreaker for the 7-6 win in the second set. Pedro Cordeiro supplied the final margin with a three-set win over Drew Johnston at No. 6 singles. Cordeiro won the first set 7-5 and Johnston won the second set 6-4. In a super set tiebreaker, Cordeiro recorded the singles win with a 10-8 score.
The Flames are scheduled to host Delta State University on Saturday in their final regular season home match of the season. The team’s seniors will be recognized in a ceremony at 10 a.m. with the GSC contest scheduled for noon.