SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In the first Southern Conference match of the season, the Wofford College men's tennis team was defeated 5-2 by East Tennessee State on Tuesday afternoon. Playing in cold and windy conditions, the Bucs won all three doubles matches and then won four of the six singles matches.
During doubles, Wofford had a 4-3 lead at both the #2 and # 3 positions. However, in the end the Bucs took all three matches by a 6-4 score to win the point.
In the singles matches,
Will Fullett won the first set 6-1 and was down 3-4 in the second before coming back for a 6-4 win at the #4 position. The Bucs had wins at the #3 and #6 positions to take a 3-1 lead in the match. At #1 singles,
Ashe Ray dropped the first set 6-0 and was down 4-1 before coming back to make it 6-5. The Bucs won the next game for a 7-5 win, which clinched the match for East Tennessee State.
Alex Horn lost the first set at #5 singles 6-4 before coming back with a 7-6 (7-4) win in the second set. In the third set tiebreaker, Horn earned a 10-4 win for the Terriers. In the final match of the day,
Callum Rendle lost his first set 7-5 and then took the second set 6-3. The tiebreaker was tied four times before the Bucs won 11-9.
"We lost a close match to a strong team," said head coach
Rod Ray. "I'm proud of our guys because we're battling hard every day in matches and in training. The hard work is paying off. We'll be ready for the next match."
Wofford (4-10) will continue SoCon play on Friday, March 17, with a 2:30 p.m. match at The Citadel. ETSU, the defending SoCon champion, is now 6-8 overall and 3-0 in league play.
Doubles Results
1. Dimitri Badra/Adam Nagoudi (ETSU) def.
Will Fullett/
Ian Rasheed (WOF) 6-4
2. Thiago Pernas/Juan Lombisano (ETSU) def.
Callum Rendle/
Alex Horn (WOF) 6-4
3. Francisco Lamas/Pedro Cressoni (ETSU) def.
Ashe Ray/
Robbie Young (WOF) 6-4
Singles Results
1. Dimitri Badra (ETSU) def.
Ashe Ray (WOF) 6-0, 7-5
2. Thiago Pernas (ETSU) def.
Callum Rendle (WOF) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9)
3. Pedro Cressoni (ETSU) def.
Robbie Young (WOF) 6-2, 6-2
4.
Will Fullett (WOF) def. Juan Lombisano (ETSU) 6-1, 6-4
5.
Alex Horn (WOF) def. Peter Kalocsai (ETSU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-4)
6. Francisco Lamas (ETSU) def.
Max Graham (WOF) 6-3, 7-5
