The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis team dropped a tough 6-1 match at Alabama tonight.  The Mocs took one doubles and one singles bout in a contest that was closer than the final score.

Doubles was a battle at all three spots, with each match needing a '7' to decide the outcome.  Senior Turner Voges and sophomore Simon Labbe took the No. 2 match with a 7-5 win over Gabriel Diaz Freire and Zhe Zhou.  Alabama won the other two to score the point but needed a tiebreaker to secure both wins. 

Sophomore Tomas Rodriguez and freshman Peyton Gatti lost 7-6 (4) to Patrick Kaukovalta and Marcelo Sepulveda Garza at No. 1.  Sophomore Kerim Hyatt and freshman Jeffrey Dewald also lost 7-6 (2) to Alexey Nesterov and Avi Shugar.

"Super proud of our guys tonight," stated head coach Chuck Merzbacher. "We worked so hard on our doubles in practice since Clemson and it really showed. The doubles point coming down to a tie breaker and at one point all matches were tied at 5-5."
 
Rodriguez had the point for the Mocs with a win at No. 1 singles over Kaukovalta.  Rodriguez dropped the opening set 6-4 but followed with a win in the second frame 6-2.  With the team score decided, they played a 10-point super-tiebreaker for the third set, which Rodriguez won 10-7. 

Gatti had a tough opening set in his (6-4, 6-3) loss to Nesterov at No. 5, and freshman Jordan McClure also came close in his first in a (7-5, 3-6) loss against Rudi Christiansen at No. 6.
 
"Great win for Tomas in singles," added Merzbacher. "He has worked hard on adding variety to his game and it is really paying off for him. He can hurt you in so many ways now.
 
"Overall our tennis was far ahead of our opening match and I saw much progress."
 
The loss drops Chattanooga to 0-2 on the year, while Alabama improved to 6-2.  Up next for the Mocs is a pair of home matches next weekend.  UTC hosts Austin Peay on Saturday, Feb. 6 and Belmont on Sunday, Feb. 7. 
 
Alabama 6, Chattanooga 1
1/29/2021 at Tuscaloosa, Ala. (RAB Tennis Facility)
Doubles competition
1. Patrick Kaukovalta/Marcelo Sepulveda (UA) def. Tomas Rodriguez/Peyton Gatti (UTC) 7-6 (7-4)
2. Turner Voges/Simon Labbe (UTC) def. Gabriel Diaz Freire/Zhe Zhou (UA) 7-5
3. Alexey Nesterov/Avi Shugar (UA) def. Kerim Hyatt/Jeffrey Dewald (UTC) 7-6 (7-2)
 
Singles competition
1. Tomas Rodriguez (UTC) def. Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7)
2. Gabriel Diaz Freire (UA) def. Kerim Hyatt (UTC) 6-0, 6-2
3. Vincent Rettke (UA) def. Turner Voges (UTC) 6-2, 6-2
4. Jeremy Gschwendtner (UA) def. Jeffrey Dewald (UTC) 6-1, 6-2
5. Alexey Nesterov (UA) def. Peyton Gatti (UTC) 6-4, 6-3
6. Rudi Christiansen (UA) def. Jordan McClure (UTC) 7-5, 6-3
 
Match Notes
Chattanooga 0-2
Alabama 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,3,5,2,6,1)
T-2:29