CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE - UT Tyler tennis played to a 1-1 record on Wednesday afternoon in a battle with Catawba College on the road in a neutral site matchup.
MEN'S MATCH: #5 UT Tyler 4 | #10 Catawba College 2
UT Tyler would put together another strong singles effort that ultimately provided the big difference in the match as they picked up another ranked win.
The #10 Indians got off to the better start, taking a 6-1 and a 6-3 win in the #2 and #3 lines, pulling ahead 1-0 heading into those singles matches.
The Patriots quickly evened up the scoreboard, with
Jordi Garcia Portell putting up a dominant 6-3, 6-0 in just 76 minutes down in the #6 line.
Carel Wessel in line #3 would add another straight sets win, putting the Patriots out in front for the first time in the match as he won in scores of 6-2, 6-4.
From there, the matches became close and each went into three sets, with neither side giving an edge. The Indians fought back with a win in line #5, evening the match back up at two each.
Samuel Antwi continued his run of hot play to begin the season, this time taking sets one and three in scores of 6-3, sandwiched around a 1-6 set two to pick up the third win for UT Tyler and the lead yet again.
The final match of the afternoon was won by UT Tyler, with #2 liner
Malo Poulesquen delivering a gritty comeback win. He dropped his first set 5-7, but delivered two straight 6-4 wins, both featuring comebacks from a 3-4 deficit. That comeback delivered the fourth point and the match for the Patriots.
WOMEN'S MATCH: #24 UT Tyler 1 | #10 Catawba College 4
On the women's side, the Indians again got off to a strong start in doubles, but unlike the men's match, they were able to carry over that momentum and play strong in singles.
The #10 ranked Indians took a 6-3 and 6-4 win in the #2 and #3 lines in doubles, pulling ahead 1-0 heading into singles play.
They would add two more wins in the #4 and #6 lines, pulling ahead 3-0 as they put the Patriots on the brink early.
Maria Antonio Ortega kept #10 Catawba College at bay in her match, taking a 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) win in the #3 line to put up the first point of the day for the Patriots.
That run however would come to an end, with the #10 Indians taking the #2 line to seal the match.
Natalia Gorzny battled to her own tiebreaker in the first set, but came out on the wrong side of a 7-6 (7-3) decision before a 2-6 defeat in set two gave them their fourth point.
UT Tyler will get back to work on Thursday, taking on North Georgia at 9 a.m. CT back in Chattanooga. The Nighthawks are ranked #9 in the women's rankings and #12 in the men's rankings.
