TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler tennis continued their streak of form on Friday after both teams took decisive victories over Cameron in Lone Star Conference action.
WOMEN'S MATCH: #31 UT Tyler 6 | Cameron 1
Strong doubles play began the match and led to big momentum in singles to propel the Patriots to the win.
Yona Bancarel and
Natalia Gorzny got things rolling with a 6-2 win in line #1, and were quickly followed by
Maria Antonio Ortega and
Paula Castellanos who took a 6-3 win in line #2 to push the Patriots to a 1-0 lead.
The Patriots quickly pushed the envelope in singles, getting a critical win from Gorzny in line #2 at 6-3, 6-4 and then another from Bancarel in line #1 at 7-5, 6-0 to race themselves out to a 3-0 lead.
The Aggies would get themselves on the board with a win in the #4 line, but the Patriots shut the door quickly with a marathon win from Antonio Ortega. She dropped a tight first set at 5-7, but responded with a scathing 6-0 win in set two. That set up a full third set with the match on the line, where she erased a 2-4 deficit with three straight game wins before tacking on two of the last three to earn a 7-5 win and the match for the Patriots.
UT Tyler would add on two more wins in the #5 and #6 lines, capping off a brilliant 6-1 effort.
Carla Rodier in line #5 put together two near perfect sets as she won 6-2, 6-2 after never trailing.
Claudia Di Leonardo won her match comfortably 6-4, 6-2, also never trailing to cap off the big win.
MEN'S MATCH: #7 UT Tyler 6 | #31 Cameron 1
Play began with a gritty set of doubles matches, with all three coming down to the wire. The Aggies got on the board in line #2, but the Patriots answered with a thriller from
Trevor Short and
Samuel Antwi in a score of 7-6 (7-2).
That win set up the #1 line to be the decider, and
Daniil Felker and
Carel Wessel delivered the key win in yet another tiebreaker by a score of 7-6 (7-1).
In singles, the two teams remained close, playing a pair of three set matches along with a pair of tiebreakers. First on the board was Antwi, who delivered a sweat-free 6-2, 6-3 win to double the Patriots lead.
The Patriots soon followed with Wessel in line #2, with him taking a 6-3 7-6 (8-6) back and forth affair.
The Aggies got on the board in line #1 to cut the lead down to 6-1, but the Patriots kept the pedal down on their way to the big win. Felker won his match in line #5 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), and
Jordi Garcia Portell took his own win in scores of 6-2, 6-4 in line #6.
The Patriots would add one final win in the #3 line, with
Malo Poulesquen winning another marathon match. After dropping his first set 5-7, he answered with sets of 6-3, 6-4. That final set included a comeback from down 2-4, putting the exclamation point on the day.
UT Tyler will now set their sights on Midwestern State on Saturday at the Summers Tennis Center, who is ranked #19 on the men's side and #28 on the women's side. The women's match is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start time, and the men's match will begin at 1 p.m.
