The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team dropped a close 4-3 match to defending Ohio Valley Conference Champion Tennessee Tech today.  The loss snaps the Mocs (8-5) five-match winning streak. 
UTC won the doubles point, but TTU (4-8) took the first four singles matches to secure the victory.   

"We did a great job battling through and getting the doubles point," stated head coach Chuck Merzbacher. "We knew we needed that point to get ourselves in this match. We just couldn't find enough singles points."

The Golden Eagles took the No. 3 doubles match, but junior Simon Bustamante and freshman Kerim Hyatt scored a 6-4 win over Gonzalo Garcia and Carlos Vicente at No. 1.

Junior Niklas Gerdes and freshman Tomas Rodriguez clinched the point with a 7-5 win over Marc Mila and Fanis Kontopoulos at No. 2.  It was Gerdes and Rodriguez's fifth win in a row as they improved to 9-1 at No. 2. 

Gerdes and Rodriguez got the two wins for the Mocs in singles.  Rodriguez won in straight sets at No. 2 with a (6-4, 6-4) victory against Elias Grubet.  It was his sixth win in a row, improving to 9-4 in the spring. 

Gerdes needed a super-breaker to defeat Rafael Tosetto [4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-5)] for his sixth-straight victory at No. 1.  He is now 10-3 in the top spot for the Mocs this spring. 

"Tomas and Niklas had good wins," added Merzbacher.  "Everyone else left it out there today and I am super proud of the effort. Tennessee Tech has a lot of depth and talent, and they'll have a good year."

Up next for the Mocs is a mid-week match against Kennesaw State on Wednesday, March 6.  Due to a chilly forecast, this match has moved to the Guerry Tennis Center at Baylor with a 7:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) first serve.  A link for live scoring is available on the men's tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com. 

Tennessee Tech 4, Chattanooga 3
03/02/2019 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (UTC Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. Niklas Gerdes (UTC) def. Rafael Tosetto (TTU) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-5)
2. Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) def. Elias Grubert (TTU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Gonzalo Garcia (TTU) def. Kerim Hyatt (UTC) 6-4, 6-2
4. Carlos Vicente (TTU) def. Simon Bustamante (UTC) 7-5, 6-1
5. Wenceslao Albin (TTU) def. Pablo Llebeili (UTC) 6-2, 6-4
6. Riku Kubota (TTU) def. Jacob Marshall (UTC) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Simon Bustamante/Kerim Hyatt (UTC) def. Gonzalo Garcia/Carlos Vicente (TTU) 6-4
2. Niklas Gerdes/Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) def. Marc Mila/Fanis Kontopoulos (TTU) 7-5
3. Wenceslao Albin/Rafael Tosetto (TTU) def. Pablo Llebeili/Jacob Marshall (UTC) 6-4

Match Notes
Tennessee Tech 4-8
Chattanooga 8-5
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,3,6,2,1)
T-37 A-2