The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team scored a big 4-3 win against Wofford at the UTC Tennis Center today.  The Mocs improved to 11-9 overall and evened their Southern Conference record at 2-2.  Wofford fell to 6-11 and also leveled its league tally at 3-3. 


UTC lost the opening doubles point, with the Terriers taking the No. 2 and No. 3 matches.  This is the first time Chattanooga has won a league dual without taking the doubles point since a 5-2 win over The Citadel on March 8, 2014. 

The Mocs have been right there in close losses to Furman and Mercer in their last two outings.  This one was more of the same, with UTC taking the first set in four of the six singles matches. 

Wofford took a 2-0 lead with a win at No. 2, but UTC got on the board with a three-set win at No. 5.  Senior Pablo Llebeili defeated Javi Casasolas (6-3, 3-6, 6-4) to close the gap to 2-1.

The Mocs tied up at No. 6 when sophomore Jacob Marshall defeated Diego Losada (6-3, 6-3).  Marshall improved to 4-4 at No. 6 with his second straight win. 

Chattanooga then went up 3-2 behind junior Niklas Gerdes' (7-6, 7-5) win over Julian Chousa.  Gerdes moved to a team-leading 14-6 overall in the spring, all at the No. 1 position. 

Wofford tied the score at 3-3 when Lucas Cerbelli held off junior Simon Bustamante in an epic three setted (7-6 (7-2), 6-7, 6-2). 

That left freshman Kerim Hyatt on court No. 3 against Edu Villar.  Hyatta won the first set 6-3, but Villar took the second in a 7-4 tiebreaker.  The third frame also went to an extra game, with Hyatt clinching the team win [6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5)].

"I am so proud of this team after being in almost the same situation in the heartbreaker against Mercer last week," stated head coach Chuck Merzbacher.  "These guys just hung in there and found a way to win.

"Pablo, was a quite the senior out there grabbing his singles point alongside Jacob. It was also just a clutch win by our freshman, Kerim, to seal the deal. He handled the match and the pressure like a champion." 

UTC has two wins in SoCon action for the first time since going 2-9 in 2014.  The Mocs will try for another one tomorrow when they host ETSU at 1:00 p.m. (E.D.T.) at the UTC Tennis Center.  A link for live scoring is available on the men's tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com. 

Chattanooga 4, Wofford 3
03/30/2019 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (UTC Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Niklas Gerdes (UTC) def. Julian Chousa (WOF) 7-6, 7-5
2. Omar Williams (WOF) def. Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) 6-1, 6-4
3. Kerim Hyatt (UTC) def. Edu Villar (WOF) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5)
4. Lucas Cerbelli (WOF) def. Simon Bustamante (UTC) 7-6 (7-2), 6-7, 6-2
5. Pablo Llebeili (UTC) def. Javi Casasolas (WOF) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
6. Jacob Marshall (UTC) def. Diego Losada (WOF) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Kerim Hyatt/Simon Bustamante (UTC) vs. Julian Chousa/Omar Williams (WOF) 4-3, unfinished
2. Javi Casasolas/Bryce Keim (WOF) def. Niklas Gerdes/Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) 6-2
3. Lucas Cerbelli/Diego Losada (WOF) def. Pablo Llebeili/Jacob Marshall (UTC) 6-1

Match Notes
Wofford 6-11, 3-3 SoCon
Chattanooga 11-9, 2-2 SoCon
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,5,6,1,4,3)
T-3:20 A-52