The No. 44 Lee University Women’s Tennis team was edged 4-3 by Montevallo in a Gulf South Conference match Sunday afternoon at the DeVos Tennis Center. The Lady Flames (9-3, 4-3 GSC) recognized Hayden Smith during a Senior Day ceremony before the contest.
Mike and Quinn Groenendijk opened the men’s doubles competition with a 6-1 win over Sam Parsons and Gabriel Variano. Montevallo (7-10, 3-5 GSC) evened the doubles score following a 6-2 win by Philippe Zehender and Simon Luigs against Wihan van der Merwe and Dasi.
Faria and Filipe Krohn took down Leonidas Lazarides and Samuel Maia 6-2 to secure the doubles point for the Flames.
Faria then turned around to defeat Lazarides 6-3 in both sets to push Lee ahead to a 2-0 lead. The Flames posted back-to-back three-set wins to clinch the team victory. At No. 2 singles, van der Merwe overcame a 6-3 loss in his opening set with Zehender with 6-1 and 6-2 margins in the next two sets. Dasi posted 6-3 and 6-1 scores in the first and third sets, respectively, to beat Maia at No. 3 singles.
Quinn Groenendijk continued the Lee momentum with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles against Vittorio Noli. Krohn beat Luigs 6-3 and 6-2, while Yike Liu outlasted Ryota Nakajima 7-6 and 7-5, with a 7-5 tiebreaker in the first set, to complete the team shut out.
In the women’s match, Ashleigh Simes and Maria Fernanda Duarte began doubles play with a 6-1 win over Klara Podskubkova and Lieselotte Hartlöhner. Maria Penalver Aguilo and Kanna Kobayakawa secured the doubles point with a 6-4 win over Latizia Bojara and Johanna Kullman. Montevallo (9-8, 4-4 GSC) avoided the sweep with a 6-4 decision by Claire Jaramba and Greta Vagnini against Elizaveta Gnilozubova and Mirjana Ragastovac.
Simes posted 6-4 scores in both sets to beat Podskubkova at No. 1 singles to give Lee a 2-0 advantage. Jaramba and Hartlöhner claimed the next two matches in three sets each to even the team battle at 2-2. London Breedlove held off Fernanda Duarte 6-4 and 6-3 to give Montevallo its first lead.
Gnilozubova fought past Bojara 6-4, 6-2 to leave the No. 6 singles contest between Smith and Kullman as the decider. Kullman recorded a 6-2, 6-3 win to clinch the fourth and winning point for the visiting Falcons.
The Flames and Lady Flames are scheduled to battle West Alabama on Friday in Livingston, Ala. The GSC contests are set for 1 p.m. EDT starts.
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