Dahlonega, GA – The Lincoln Memorial University Men's Tennis team dropped their first match of the season, taking 11th-ranked North Georgia to the brink on the road on Sunday, falling 3-4. The loss now moves Lincoln Memorial to 6-1 this season.
In the first doubles pairing, Victor Bourguignon and Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta ended their match with North Georgia's top pairing at a stalemate, with the match ending unfinished at 6-6. The Railsplitters duo, after finding themselves down 2-4, went on a run, scoring four of the final six points in the match to draw even at the end of doubles play.
Bourguignon would give the Splitters a win in singles draw out of the fifth position. Bourguignon would dominate the first set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead against his opponent, securing the early lead and eventually pulling away the 6-1 win in the first set. After his opponent took the second set, Bourguignon battled back from a third-set deficit early, scoring the final four points in a 7-6 victory
The Railsplitters would win another three-set battle in the sixth set, as Kai Miyatake would earn a win after dropping the first set. Miyatake took a fast start into the second set, going ahead 3-1 on his opponent from North Georgia before holding on at the end of the match, winning 6-4. The third set was a one-point victory for Miyatake, scoring the first and only point in a 1-0 win to secure the Railsplitters second team point of the day.
Ethan Hirons would also pick up a win with the Splitters out of the second singles draw.
The Railsplitters will head back to Harrogate, facing Coker Unversity next Saturday in a South Atlantic Conference match at 11:00 a.m.
RESULTS
Doubles:
#1: Victor Bourguignon/Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta vs Pedro Liborio/Juan Cruz Blanco: UF
#2: Ethan Hirons/Radu Florea vs Joao Luis Silva/Ben Brandl: 2-6
#3: Alexrandru Rares Giurea/Mathis Ansellem vs Marcos Castellanos/Franco Rebora: 4-6
Singles:
#1: Alexandru Rares Giurea vs Pedro Liborio: 1-6, 1-6
#2: Ethan Hirons over Joao Luis Silva: RET
#3: Mathis Amsellem vs Marcos Castellanos: 5-7, 2-6
#4: Radu Florea vs Ben Brandl: 1-6, 2-6
#5: Victor Bourguignon vs Franco Rebora: 6-1, 5-7, 7-6
#6: Kai Miyatake vs Juan Cruz Blanco: 4-6, 6-4, 1-0
