SAINT LEO, FLA – The University of Texas at Tyler tennis programs each dropped their contests to a Saint Leo program that was ranked in the top ten in both men's and women's tennis but not without some difficulty as the Patriots played tough.
The men's match was 7-0 in favor of the Lions, but three different singles matches went to a tiebreaking third set as the Patriots tried to spark a rally.
In the doubles portion of the match,
Joaquin Bianchi and
Gonzalo Fernandez Gil paired up after their victory from yesterday's match, but were unable to find a groove and dropped their match 6-0.
Safar Rasulov and
Egor Shestakov paired up and ran the set score out to an extra game, but Saint Leo pulled out the victory by a score of 7-5.
Moritz Mayer and
Leon Sell matched up for the third and final doubles slot, but were unable to take home the win after Saint Leo won the set by a score of 6-2.
In the singles side of the dual match, Fernandez Gil looked to rebound after a tough outing in doubles. After dropping the first set by a score of 6-0, he rebounded with a big 6-3 set win in the second set to pull even at one set each. However, Saint Leo had the upper hand in set three, and won by a score of 6-2 to take the match and the point.
Mayer was also locked in a tight battle in his singles match. After dropping his first set to Ghali Mensour by a score of 6-4, Mayer responded strongly with a 6-4 win of his own to even the #4 singles match at one set each. In the third and deciding set, Mensour prevailed, outscoring Mayer 6-2 to take the point.
Yudai Watanabe was the third member of the men's team to force a third and final set. After not participating in the doubles portion of the contest, Watanabe stepped up and delivered a strong 6-3 victory in set one. Luis Iriarte responded with a close 6-4 win in the second set to even the match at 1-1. The third set was all Iriarte, as he took the set 10-2 and clinch the match for Saint Leo.
On the women's side, the Patriots battled closely just as the men's program did, but ultimately fell by a score of 7-0 as well.
Delara Zamani and
Leony Deutschmann paired up in doubles and came away with a big win by a score of 6-3 as they tried to set the tone by winning the doubles point. After Saint Leo took down the pair
Chloe Chawner and
Brooklyn Ross 6-0, that forced the doubles point to ride on the third and final doubles match.
Gaini Ibrasheva and
Chloe Dix paired up and fought a hard match with it coming down to the wire. Saint Leo prevailed in a tiebreaker by a score of 7-6, but not after Ibrasheva and Dix made it tough.
In the singles side, the Patriots battled closely with one match going to three sets but multiple matches coming down to the wire. Zamani took on the #1 singles slot, and it took a tiebreaker and an extra game to bring her down in straight sets. She fought it out with the #39 ranked individual in Division II and just fell by set scores of 7-6, 7-5.
Kanika Sivaraman came in to singles after not participating in the doubles portion of the match, but performed admirably. Sivaraman faced off against Celina Ermann and battled closely, but Ermann was just a little too much in the end. Scores of 6-4, 6-4 gave Saint Leo their third point of the match.
Chawner stepped in to the #6 singles position and was the lone Patriots player to force a third set. She stepped in and immediately took the first set by a close score of 7-6. Kamilya Shailina responded with a 6-0 win to force a third and final set. That set was also a close contest, but Shailina ultimately prevailed by a score of 10-7. That gave Saint Leo their fourth point and clinched the match in their favor.
Next up for UT Tyler tennis is a match against Rollins in Winter Park, Florida. The men will face off with the Tars at 10:30 a.m. and the ladies will face off with Rollins at 3:30 p.m. Tomorrow's match will be number three in three days for Patriots tennis and they will have one more match on their spring break trip with a contest against Ferris State on Thursday afternoon.
