Men’s Tennis Falls to Nationally-Ranked Division II Foe Palm Beach Atlantic, 8-1
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.- In the final match of its spring break trip to Hilton Head, the Eastern Nazarene College men's tennis team absorbed an 8-1 loss to NCAA Division II squad Palm Beach Atlantic Friday.
The Lions move to 7-2 on the season after having their six-match winning-streak halted. The Sailfish, ranked No. 46 in the Oracle/ITA National Rankings, improve to 6-3 on the year.
Palm Beach Atlantic compiled three doubles wins to hustle out to a 3-0 lead.
Alex Partyka (Moscow, Russia) and Laurent Ruttkowski (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany) suffered an 8-4 setback at the top spot to Rafael Lenz and Carlos Niemeyer.
Santiago Camero (Valencia, Venezuela) and Henry Siercke (Hamburg, Germany) dropped an 8-1 decision to Pietro de Silva and Carlos Meneses at the No. 2 position.
Shaw Campbell (Redding, Calif.) and Davis Steelman (Darlington, Md.) fell at the No. 3 slot to Thomas Salmon and Nick Torres 8-2.
In singles action, the Sailfish grabbed five wins to prevail in the first-ever match between the two teams.
Steelman posted Eastern Nazarene's lone victory on the day as he improved to 9-0 on the year with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Torres at the No. 6 position.
Partyka endured a 6-3, 6-1 loss at the No. 1 singles spot to Pato Zarazua. Siercke fell at the second slot 6-1, 6-3 to Philipp Hoffmann. Ruttkowski dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision to Salmon in the No. 3 singles match.
Camero fell in a third-set super-tiebreaker at the No. 4 position to Niemeyer. The Lions' rookie captured the opening frame 6-3 before Niemeyer leveled the match with a 6-2 win in the second set before edging Camero 10-7 in the super-tiebreaker.
Kyle Pierson (Redding, Calif.) suffered a 6-1, 6-2 setback at the No. 5 spot against Meneses.
Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene returns home to square off against Salem State in an inter-conference clash March 23.