LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Five of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s tennis teams competed this weekend.
Austin College traveled to Southwestern University to take on the Pirates, while Centenary College and Schreiner University met up on the Gents’ home courts. Schreiner also traveled to East Texas to take on University of Texas-Tyler and East Texas Baptist on Friday.
The Gents also faced off against McMurry University over the weekend, while Austin College took on University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Colorado College hosted Portland State in the team’s second match of the season.
Austin College
The ‘Roos hit the road this weekend and headed to Georgetown, Texas. While the score was not indicative of the quality of matches, the Pirates used their home court advantage effectively and jumped on top of the 'Roos early, taking all 6 first sets in singles play. One Kangaroo stood alone and fought back against Southwestern. Erik Meendsen took the second set in his Line 2 singles premier before falling 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the end. In doubles action, the Pirates swept the ‘Roos. Later that day, AC took on Mary Hardin-Baylor, but fell 7-0. The Kangaroos doubles teams got out to early leads against the Crusaders on all three courts, but could not sustain those breaks of serve to close out the matches, falling behind 3-0 into singles play. Cedric Ambulo, facing a familiar opponent, struck the ball with heavy topspin from the baseline and carved up crisp volleys at the net to take UMHB's Wilding to 11-9 in the second set tiebreaker after dropping the first set 6-0. Meendsen, fresh off his marathon three-hour three-setter against Southwestern, battled fatigue and he fell 6-4, 6-2 just before darkness settled over Belton. Both Zach Bomar and David Smith would have their matches suspended due to visibility conditions.
Centenary College
The Gents took on McMurry and Schreiner this weekend. Stafford Lyons recorded the Gents only point in singles play before falling 6-1, 6-0 to McM’s Dani Perez. Lyons teamed with Andrew Borel in the top spot in doubles’ action as the duo fell 8-1. The Gents took on Schreiner next, as they dropped the match 9-0. CC fell 8-0 in all three doubles matches on the day. The top singles efforts came from Stafford Lyons, Andrew Borel and Erik Norem. Lyons dropped a 6-0, 6-1 outing in the top singles spot while Borel fell 6-1, 6-0 in the No.2 singles slot. Norem added a 6-2, 6-0 decision in the No. 4 position.
Colorado College
The Tigers faced off against NCAA Division I Portland State this weekend, but fell 8-1. Jack Burger became the first Tiger to win a singles match against a Division I opponent in recent memory by rallying from a set down to post a 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (7) victory. In the No. 4 spot, Ross Sherman nearly came back for a three-set win, but fell 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10).
Schreiner University
The Mountaineers played three matches last week, beginning with a trip to East Texas to take on #15 UT-Tyler and ETBU. Against UTT, Schreiner fell 9-0. In doubles action, the No. 1 pairing of Austin Carrola and Nick Pena put up the strongest effort, but fell 8-3. Later in singles play, Teg Lozano nearly rallied for a win after falling 6-4 in the first set. Lozano took a 4-0 lead in the second, but couldn’t hold on and fell 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 6 singles spot. Later in the day, the team took on ETBU, falling 5-1 before the remaining matches were cancelled due to darkness. Carrola and Pena teamed up again in No. 1 doubles, earning the Mountaineers only point with an 8-4 win. The No. 2 doubles team battled to the end, but fell 8-6, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead heading into singles play. Saturday, the Mountaineers took on Centenary, earning a 9-0 win over the Gents. SU won all three doubles matched 8-0 to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Stephen Rogers (No. 3 singles) and Michael Holder (No. 6) each won their matches without surrending a single game. Lozano was up 6-0, 3-0 when his opponent retired. Pena and Carrola, in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, dropped just one game apiece in their matches. Christian Casillas took the No. 4 singles spot 6-0, 6-2.
Southwestern University
The Pirates hosted Austin College this weekend, earning a 9-0 win over the ‘Roos. In doubles action, Grant Gideon and Nickoloz Snovely teamed up in the No. 1 spot to earn an 8-1 win. At No. 2 and 3, the Pirates earned 8-2 wins. Snovely continued his success at No. 1 singles where he earned a 6-1, 6-1 win. Ayinde Hall went to three sets in the No. 2 spot, but came out with a win, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Oliver Farmen earned a win at No. 3, 6-1, 6-1, while Gideon took No. 4, 6-2, 6-2. Neik Khansari gave up just one game in his win at No. 5 singles, 6-1, 6-0. David Strong finished out the win for the Pirates at No. 6 singles, defeating his opponent 6-3, 6-3.