Harrogate, TN – The Lincoln Memorial Men's Tennis team dropped a hard-fought battled at home on Saturday, as the 16th-ranked Railsplitters fell to number nine Catawba 4-1 in a South Atlantic Conference match. The loss moves LMU to 10-3 this season and 4-2 in conference action. 

Catawba took the doubles point, with the Railsplitters keeping all matches close with the visitors. LMU was within two points in both the first and second doubles pairings, while the third pairing of Mathis Amsellem and Alexandru Rares Giurea wrapped their match with a lead in an unfinished bout. 

The Splitters would draw within one at the top of singles play, as Giurea needed just two sets to dispatch the number one singles competitor for Catawba. The first set was a back-and-forth affair for Giurea, who pulled away from a 5-5 tie to take the set 7-5. The second set was similarly tight at the start, but another late rally by Giurea gave him a 6-4 win, and improved his singles record to 8-1 on the year.  

Lincoln Memorial would push three singles matches to a third set, including from Kai Miyatake, who against the 65th-ranked individual in the nation, split his two finished sets before taking a lead in the unfinished third set.  

The Railsplitters hit the road again on Tuesday, taking on Mars Hill in a conference battle at 11:00 a.m. on the road.  

RESULTS 

Doubles: 

#1: Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta/Victor Bourguignon vs Luca Bergonzi/Agustin Mastri: 4-6 

#2: Ethan Hirons/Radu Florea vs Alen Bill/Santiago Passoni: 4-6 

#3: Mathis Amsellem/Alexandru Rares Giurea vs Mateo Berne/Alessandro Valletta: 4-3 (UF) 

Singles: 

#1: Alexandru Rares Giurea vs Agustin Mastri: 7-5, 6-4 

#2: Ethan Hirons vs Santiago Passoni: 4-6, 2-6 

#3: Radu Florea vs Mateo Berne: 6-4, 3-6, 3-4 (UF) 

#4: Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta vs Luca Bergonzi: 3-6, 6-4, 2-6 

#5: Kai Miyatake vs Ryosuke Inagawa: 5-7, 6-4, 3-2 (UF) 

#6: Victor Bourguignon vs Alen Bill: 6-4, 3-6, 4-6