TYLER, TEXAS – The UT Tyler tennis program saw each of their three match winning streaks snapped on Friday afternoon at the hands of West Florida.
In the women's match, the RV Patriots matched up with the #25 ranked Argonauts to begin play. Those Argonauts would jump out to a quick lead as they swept the doubles matches in all three lines to take a 1-0 lead heading into the singles portion of the contest.
The Argonauts kept it rolling with wins in the #3 and #4 lines to take their lead to 3-0, but the Patriots battled back in each of the #1 and #2 lines as they forced their matches into three sets.
In line #2,
Yona Bancarel battled back after dropping the opening set 4-6 to take a 6-3 second set win. However, she would come up short in the third set by a score of 1-6 as the Argonauts guaranteed themselves the win.
In line #1,
Carla Rodier responded to her first set loss of 1-6 with a resounding 6-2 win. In the third set, the rollercoaster match would continue, but this time West Florida took a 6-2 victory and moved ahead 5-0.
The Argonauts added another tough win in line #6 as
Kanika Sivaraman forced her match into a third set tiebreaker, but the Patriots would get themselves on the board in line #5 as
Paula Castellanos earned a win.
Castellanos took a 7-6 (7-3) first set win and followed that up with a big 6-2 win in the second set to earn a point and move the match to a 6-1 final score.
The men's match featured another ranked matchup, as the #16 Patriots squared off with the #2 Argonauts. This time it was the Patriots who delivered the first point of the match, as the #1 and #2 lines delivered big wins to move ahead 1-0.
Carel Wessel and
Daniil Felker combined for a 6-3 win in line #1, but they were outdone by
Artiom Dorofeev and
Malo Poulesquen as they combined for a 6-1 win in line #2.
The Argonauts would respond to open singles as they took the win in line #1 to move the match to 1-1, but the Patriots battled back as Dorofeev continued his hot play with a 6-2, 6-4 victory to put the Patriots back in front at 2-1.
The Argonauts however took momentum with a straight sets win in the #2 line, and followed that effort up with another in the #5 line to take the lead right back at 3-2. The match would ultimately come down to Felker in the #4 line, as he battled his way into a third set.
Felker dropped the first set 4-6, but answered with a. 6-2 effort in the second. That forced the match into a deciding third set, but West Florida held the upper hand and took a 6-3 win to gain their fourth point.
They would tack on one final point in line #6 after
Jordi Garcia Portell also battled his way to a third set, but the Argonauts took the tiebreaker and a 5-2 win.
UT Tyler will now look for a bounceback effort on Saturday as they host West Alabama right back at the Summers Tennis Center at 11 a.m.
