Columbus, GA – It was a battle for the Lincoln Memorial Men's Tennis team, as the Railsplitters were edged out on the road by No. 5 Columbus State, with the Cougars hanging on to a 5-2 win in the final game of the Railsplitters spring break trip. The loss moves LMU to 12-8 on the season
After falling in doubles play, the Splitters put up a fight in singles play, with the starting from the fourth position, as Kai Miyatake earned a straight-sets sweep.
The first set was all LMU, as Miyatake opened up a 5-0 lead on his opponent, and after a slight comeback, slammed the door with a 6-3 victory. The second set started much tighter, as the two traded points until Miyatake found himself in a 5-4 hole. But Miyatake would turn it on from there, scoring each of the final three points to take a 7-5 win and a two-sets to none victory.
LMU's second point of the day came from the next singles position, as Radu Florea battled to a three-set victory. The first set started sour for Florea, finding himself facing a 1-4 deficit. But Florea battled back, as the Junior scored three unanswered points to draw the set at 4-4. After going behind again, Florea would not let his opponent score again, winning the opening set 7-5.
A similar story played out in set two, with Florea taking an early lead only to face a 5-5 draw late. Despite a rally, Florea dropped the second set 6-7 in tiebreakers 10-12.
Florea would not let the third set get away, as an early lead was locked down, scoring five of the first seven points and eventually taking the 10-8 tiebreaker win to secure the Railsplitters second win of the day.
The Railsplitters round out their home matches with a Tuesday game against Virginia-Wise at 11:00 a.m.
RESULTS
Doubles:
#1: Mathis Amsellem/Alexandru Rares Giurea vs Elias Peter/Andrea Sandrone: 2-5 (UF)
#2: Victor Bourguignon/Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta vs Samer Al Tori/Thomas Cardona: 2-6
#3: Ethan Hirons/Radu Florea vs Benedek Szombathelyi/Daniel Hammond: 2-6
Singles:
#1: Alexandru Rares Giurea vs Thomas Cardona: 4-6, 2-6
#2: Mathis Amsellem vs Hugo Didier: 5-7, 3-6
#3: Ethan Hirons vs Yike Liu: 3-6, 2-6
#4: Kai Miyatake vs Samer Al Tori: 6-3, 7-5
#5: Radu Florea vs Andrea Sandrone: 7-5, 6-7 (10-12), 1-0 (10-8)
#6: Victor Bourguignon vs Daniel Hammond: 3-6, 2-6
