JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 5, 2024) – A common theme over the past two weeks. The Chattanooga Mocs men's tennis team once again found itself coming down to the wire in a back-and-forth Southern Conference match, eventually falling by a 4-3 count at in-state rival ETSU on Friday afternoon at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex in Johnson City, Tenn.
 
After the defeat, Chattanooga falls to 8-13 overall and 2-3 inside SoCon play with two matches remaining. ETSU remains perfect inside league action at 5-0 after the win while upping its overall record to 8-9.
 
The host Bucs claimed a 1-0 lead with victories at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles with the former responsible for the point-clinching win. The No. 1 duo of Peyton Gatti and Jakub Jupa continued their strong output this season with a 6-3 winner in the tandem format.
 
In singles, Cortland Grove tied the match at 1-1 with an opening 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles before ETSU built a 3-1 edge with wins coming at the No. 5 and No. 1 positions. UTC continued to fight and evened the match at 3-3 following a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 win from Gabriel Castillo at No. 2 and a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win from Gatti at No. 6.
 
With the match coming down to the No. 4 singles battle, it was the Bucs' Pedro Cressoni who earned a tough 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 win over the Mocs' Ryan Mudre to give the hosts a 4-3 team win to remain atop the league standings. The result marked the fourth-straight SoCon dual for Chattanooga that came down to the final singles pairing.
 
Chattanooga returns to action on Sunday, April 7, with a road contest at SoCon foe Mercer in Macon, Ga. First serve for the match is set for 11 a.m. ET with live stats available on the schedule page at GoMocs.com.
 
East Tennessee State 4, Chattanooga 3
4/5/2024 at Johnson City, TN (Dave Mullins Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. Dimitri Badra (ETSU) def. Jakub Jupa (UTC) 6-2, 7-5
2. Gabriel Castillo (UTC) def. Milledge Cossu (ETSU) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. Cortland Grove (UTC) def. Peter Kalocsai (ETSU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Pedro Cressoni (ETSU) def. Ryan Mudre (UTC) 7-6, 5-7, 6-4
5. Francisco Lamas (ETSU) def. Kristof Kincses (UTC) 6-2, 6-3
6. Peyton Gatti (UTC) def. Lucas Britez (ETSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
 
Doubles competition
1. Peyton Gatti/Jakub Jupa (UTC) def. Milledge Cossu/Francisco Lamas (ETSU) 6-3
2. Dimitri Badra/Adam Nagoudi (ETSU) def. Cortland Grove/Jordan McClure (UTC) 6-4
3. Pedro Cressoni/Alberto Garcia (ETSU) def. Gabriel Castillo/Kristof Kincses (UTC) 6-3
 
Match Notes
Chattanooga 8-13, 2-3 SoCon
East Tennessee State 8-9, 5-0 SoCon
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,5,1,2,6,4)

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