TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler tennis split their second matches of their weekend as the men picked up a big win and the women fought close with the #12 ranked Tigers.
The RV women's program found themselves in a back and forth battle with the #12 ranked Tigers on Saturday.
That back and forth action began in doubles, as the Tigers took the #1 line by a score of 6-3 before the pair of
Natalia Gorzny and
Paula Castellanos put together a 6-2 win to even up the matches and force that point to be determined by line #2.
However, the Tigers held the upper hand, taking down the pair of
Yona Bancarel and
Kanika Sivaraman by a score of 6-2 to move ahead 1-0 heading into singles play.
The Patriots would take the opening match of singles play, as Gorzny continued her strong start with a 6-2, 6-2 dominant straight sets win to move the match to 1-1.
The Tigers answered with their own straight sets win in line #3, but the Patriots refused to back down as Bancarel earned her own win in scores of 6-3, 6-4 to bring the match back to all square yet again, this time at 2-2.
In line #1, the Tigers again took the lead, however this time the match went to three sets as
Carla Rodier put up a tough fight. She took the opening set 6-3, but fell 3-6, 4-6 in the final two sets.
The Patriots then got backed up against the wall as the Tigers were just one point away from the win. Castellanos stood in the #5 line, and after a dramatic 6-7 (5-7) loss in set one, she ripped off a 6-1, 6-0 finish to bring the Patriots right back into the match at 3-3.
The final match of the day would decide who would take the win in the ranked matchup, and
Luisa Moraes stood in the #6 line for the Patriots. After dropping the opening set 4-6 and falling behind 0-5 in the second set, Moraes rattled off five straight wins to even the set, and eventually won in a tiebreaker to force a third set after fighting off nine different match points.
That third set would go back and forth, with neither player taking more than a game lead up until 5-5. The Tigers would ultimately close out the match with back to back game wins to take a 5-7 victory over Moraes in the final set and a 4-3 win as a team.
Over on the men's side of the match, the #16 Patriots were on fire from the jump.
Job Japelj and
Arthur Miquelard combined for a 6-3 win in line #3, and just a few minutes later
Carel Wessel and
Daniil Felker combined for a 6-2 win in line #1 to lead the Patriots to a 1-0 advantage.
The Patriots took that momentum from doubles and promptly kept it going in singles, quickly guaranteeing the win. Felker led off in line #4 with a 6-1, 7-5 effort, and he was followed by
Artiom Dorofeev in line #2 as he put together a pair of 6-4 wins.
The Patriots led 3-0, and got their winning point from Wessel, as he delivered a 7-5, 7-5 straight sets win in the #1 line to make it 4-0 and ensure the win.
The winning ways would not be done yet, as
Martin Despodov added a 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 three set thriller in the #3 line to make it a 5-0 Patriots advantage.
Malo Poulesquen would continue the Patriots scoring efforts in line #6, as he earned a 6-2, 6-2 straight sets win to make it 6-0.
The final match of the day saw
Jordi Garcia Portell put the exclamation point on the team match. He would drop the opening set 4-6, but responded with a 6-2 win in set two. That set up a tiebreaker for the third match, and he delivered a 10-4 win to earn a 7-0 sweep for the Patriots.
UT Tyler now looks ahead to their tri-match finale on Sunday, where they face off with Auburn Montgomery back at the Summers Tennis Center at 9 a.m.
