Harrogate, TN – In their return to campus, the Lincoln Memorial Men's Tennis team moved to 8-0 at home, defeating Purdue University Northwest 5-2. The win moved the Railsplitters to 9-2 this season.
Lincoln Memorial started the day strong by going 3-0 in doubles play, sweeping the competition and taking the point from the Lions. In the first pairing, Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta and Victor Bourguignon faced stiff competition, as an early lead would evaporate into a close contest, with the match going into tiebreakers before the Splitters duo picked up their sixth win of the season.
The next two doubles matches were easier for the Splitters, with the duo of Radu Florea and Ethan Hirons improving to 9-1 with an easy 6-1 win in the second pairing. The third pairing was closer for Mathis Amsellem and Hugo Ruiz Espejo, but an early 3-1 lead proved too much for the Pride, as LMU took the set 6-4.
LMU carried their perfect doubles play into the start of singles competition, as Lincoln Memorial took the first two singles draws to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Alexandru Rares Giurea picked up his seventh win of the season by sweeping the first singles draw, winning 6-3 and 6-4 from the top competition spot on the day.
Hirons faced a tough second set in the second singles draw, but a 6-1 win in the opening set was followed by holding off a furious comeback from his opponent, taking the second set 7-5 and the match two sets to none, giving LMU the 3-0 lead.
After the Lions claimed two consecutive wins, Kai Miyatake put the finishing touches on the team win for Lincoln Memorial, earning his eighth win of the season and seventh from the final singles position in a two sets to none victory. After a back-and-forth first set, the sophomore went on a late run in the second set, scoring the final four points in a 6-3 win, securing the Railsplitters victory.
The final win of the day came from Bourguignon in the fifth singles set, as Bourguignon took the first and third set to continue his red-hot start, now moving to 10-1 this year. After taking an early lead in the first set, Bourguignon finished the 6-2 set one win before falling just short in the second set 7-5. The third set started back-and-forth between Bourguignon and his opponent, but after the two were deadlocked at 4-4, Bourguignon netted the final two points, taking the 6-4 win and the two sets to one win.
Lincoln Memorial plays host to Emory & Henry tomorrow, facing the Wasps starting at 11:00 a.m.
RESULTS
Doubles:
#1: Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta/Victor Bourguignon vs Samuel Dickson/Dani Chicano i Melero: 7-6 (7-4)
#2: Radu Florea/Ethan Hirons vs Joao Martins/Pedro Diaz: 6-1
#3: Mathis Amsellem/Hugo Ruiz Espejo vs Raphael Valente/Daniel Sroka: 6-4
Singles:
#1: Alexandru Rares Giurea vs Samuel Dickson: 6-3, 6-4
#2: Ethan Hirons vs Dani Chicano i Melero: 6-1, 7-5
#3: Mathias Roy vs Joao Martins: 6-7 (3-7), 4-6
#4: Radu Florea vs Raphael Valente: 3-6, 4-6
#5: Victor Bourguignon vs Pedro Diaz: 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
#6: Kai Miyatake vs Daniel Sroka: 6-4, 6-3
