Men’s Tennis Knocks Off Drew, 5-4
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's tennis team handed previously-unbeaten Drew its first loss of the year, prevailing 5-4 Wednesday.
The Lions improve to 5-1 on the season with the victory while the Rangers dip to 5-1 overall.
Eastern Nazarene fell behind 2-1 after conceding a pair of doubles matches.
Shaw Campbell (Redding, Calif.) and Davis Steelman (Darlington, Md.) posted the Lions' lone doubles win as the duo topped Chris Morville and Parker Diamond 8-3 at the No. 3 spot.
Alex Partyka (Moscow, Russia) and Laurent Ruttkowski (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany) narrowly fell to Salikh Gilmutdinov and Will Morrison at the top position, 8-6.
Santiago Camero (Valencia, Venezuela) and Henry Siercke (Hamburg, Germany) dropped an 8-4 decision at the No. 2 slot to Geoffrey Diehl and Vineet Vemulapally.
Eastern Nazarene rallied to secure four victories in singles action to clinch its fourth win in a row.
Siercke downed Vemulapally at the No. 2 position 6-1, 6-3 to level the match at 2-2. Ruttkowski earned a 6-4, 6-3 victory at the third slot to give the Lions a 3-2 edge.
Partyka endured a 6-3, 6-3 setback at the No. 1 spot against Gilmutdinov as Drew pulled even at 3-3.
Camero fell in a third-set super-tiebreaker to Diehl, 10-6, after both players posted 6-2 wins in the opening two sets. With Diehl's victory at the fourth singles position, the Rangers reclaimed a 4-3 lead.
Kyle Pierson (Redding, Calif.) cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win at the No. 5 slot to knot the match at 4-4.
Steelman locked up the match with a straight-sets victory at the sixth spot over Bryce Weitzer, 6-2, 6-0.
Up next, Eastern Nazarene will continue its match against Bridgewater (Va.) March 9 after rain suspended play Monday. The Lions will return to the courts in the afternoon to face Lebanon Valley.