Box Score HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's tennis team had their best result of the year Sunday, taking a 4-3 win over visiting University of Illinois-Springfield at the Tennis Indoor Center. LMU came back from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits to claim the victory, with Luca Pavan sealing the deal with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 clincher over UIS's Ivan Esguerra at the #6 line. 
 
Harper Mills, who earlier paired with Pavan to clinch the all-important doubles point for the 'Splitters, tied the match at 3-3 with an efficient 6-4, 6-4 triumph at #5 singles to set up Pavan's heroics.
 
"Just solid performances from Luca and Harper at the end of the match to keep us alive and get us a much-needed result," said head coach Mark Walters. "Illinois-Springfield has a very good pedigree, plays in deep conference, and are more talented than us on paper. So just seeing our guys step up, and playing with a man down, shows we are making some progress with our competitiveness." 
 
UIS is a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and a perennial top 50 program. 
 
After taking the doubles point for an early lead, LMU quickly fell behind after taking losses at #1 and #2 singles. However, William Jonsson got LMU on the board with a gritty 5-7, 7-5 (10-7) win at the #3 line to stem the tide. Jonsson, a sophomore who played his first season at DII power Flagler College, continues to play at a high level for the Railsplitters in winning his 4^th consecutive match. 
 
"We told William to close the net really hard today and that would give him an opportunity to finish points, and he lulled it off time after time in pressure situations," said LMU Assistant coach Hugo Retortillo. "He struggled with his serve all day but found a way to win it with his head and his volleys." 
 
Senior Sebastian Colla sat out the match today to get some rest for the upcoming conference matches this week, and Walters said the team responded with energy and confidence.
 
"We have some new faces in the doubles, with Nic Goslar back after some injuries and Harper coming on lately," said Walters. "If we continue to have some success in doubles, we could become a dangerous team in the next month heading into the meat of our SAC season." 
 
LMU rises to 8-5 on the season and brings a modest six game win-streak into their conference showdown with Lenoir Rhyne here Wednesday. The match is scheduled for the LMU Tennis Complex and first serve is set for 2:00 p.m.