CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE – UT Tyler tennis went 1-1 against North Georgia on Thursday as the men took a 4-1 win while the women fell 1-4 in their matchup.
MEN'S MATCH: #5 UT Tyler 4 | #12 North Georgia 1
UT Tyler got off to a similar start on Thursday as they did on Wednesday, with their opponent taking the early 1-0 lead.
Job Japelj and
Trevor Short earned a 6-3 win in line #3, but the Nighthawks followed with a 6-3 win in line #2 and a 6-4 win in line #1 to take the lead into singles.
Just as they did on Wednesday, the Patriots roared back in singles, ripping off four straight wins to take the match.
Samuel Antwi led the way, taking a 6-3, 6-2 win in straight sets in the #4 line that took just 59 minutes.
Carel Wessel in the #3 line and
Jordi Garcia Portell in the #4 line would follow just behind, with each of them taking a straight sets win. Wessel went 7-5, 6-2, and Garcia Portell went 6-1, 6-3.
With the match on the line,
Artiom Dorofeev was first to the finish line in line #1. He battled back from a 3-5 deficit in set one on his way to a 7-6 (7-5) win, and then came back from a 2-3 deficit in set two on his way to a 7-5 set win to book the fourth point and the win.
WOMEN'S MATCH: #24 UT Tyler 1 | #9 North Georgia 4
The #9 ranked Nighthawks would get off to a strong start in doubles, taking matching wins of 6-3 in both the #2 and #3 lines to lead 1-0 heading into singles.
Natalia Gorzny quickly got the Patriots on the board in singles however, taking a straight sets win by scores of 6-2, 6-2 in line #2 to even up the match and get the team back in it.
That win however would be the lone victory of the day, as North Georgia took wins in the #1 and #6 line and then a nailbiter over
Paula Castellanos in the #5 line to book their fourth point and the victory.
UT Tyler will now get a long layoff before taking to the court on March 20
th against Hawaii-Hilo at Summers Tennis Center. That will be their only match of the week next week before beginning their LSC slate on March 28
th against Lubbock Christian.
