Box Score The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team dropped a tough 4-3 match to Austin Peay at McCallie's Strang-Voges Tennis Center tonight. The Mocs won the doubles point, but only managed two singles wins in the hard-fought battle.
This is the fifth year in a row these two teams have played a 4-3 match. Chattanooga took last year's meeting, but today's win gave Austin Peay four of the last five results.
"I felt like our team competed really hard and discovered a little more about ourselves by being under this kind of pressure," stated UTC head coach
Carlos Garcia.
Chattanooga (0-3) opened by winning No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Sophomore Paul Lahue and freshman
Simon Bustamante were impressive in their 6-2 victory at No. 3. Senior
Nic Wilson and freshman
Niklas Gerdes were also strong in their 6-4 win at No. 1.
The two teams split the first-sets, with APSU (1-2) tying the match after winning at No. 1. The Mocs went back up 2-1 when Bustamante won in straight-sets at No. 4. Austin Peay took the next two at No. 3 and No. 2 for a 3-2 lead. Junior
Michael Birnbaum evened the match with a three-set win at No. 6.
That left freshman
Max Grobbelaar in a battle at No. 5 with Austin Peay's Alex Kartsonis. Grobbelaar won the first set 7-5, but Kartsonis came back with a 6-2 win in the second. Grobbelaar tried to get the win in the third before falling 7-5.
"I give credit to Austin Peay," added Garcia. "They have a very good top of the lineup and I think that is where they hurt us. I am proud of the fact that our lower guys gave us a chance and our doubles was fantastic."
"All in all I think it was a great match for our team, but we definitely need to learn from it going forward so we can punch through that fourth point tomorrow."
Up next for the Mocs is a Noon dual with Belmont tomorrow at McCallie. Live scoring is available on GoMocs.com.
Austin Peay 4, Chattanooga 3
Jan 28, 2017 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (Strang-Voges Tennis Center)
Doubles competition
1.
Nic Wilson/
Niklas Gerdes (UTC) def. Almantas Ozelis/Aleh Drobysh (APSU) 6-4
2. Aaron Jumonville/Manual Montenegro (APSU) def.
Michael Birnbaum/
Max Grobbelaar (UTC) 6-4
3.
Simon Bustamante/
Paul LaHue (UTC) def. Chad Woodham/Alex Kartsonis (APSU) 6-2
Singles competition
1. Manual Montenegro (APSU) def.
Nic Wilson (UTC) 6-4, 6-3
2. Almantas Ozelis (APSU) def.
Niklas Gerdes (UTC) 6-4, 7-5
3. Aaron Jumonville (APSU) def.
Pablo Llebeili (UTC) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
4.
Simon Bustamante (UTC) def. Aleh Drobysh (APSU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Alex Kartsonis (APSU) def.
Max Grobbelaar (UTC) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
6.
Michael Birnbaum (UTC) def. James Mitchell (APSU) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
Match Notes
Austin Peay 1-3
Chattanooga 0-3
Order of finish: Doubles (13,2); Singles (1,4,3,2,6,5)
T-2:58 A-52
