Men's Tennis Southern Conference

ETSU falls 4-3 at Middle Tennessee

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.  – For the first time in exactly one month, the ETSU Bucs Men’s Tennis team dropped a match to snap the squad’s six-match winning streak dating back to Feb. 16 with a 4-3 win over Fresno State. The Bucs’ first loss since a 6-1 defeat at Arizona (Feb. 15) came tonight against the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State by the final score of 4-3. With the loss, ETSU falls to 9-4 on the season and MTSU improves to 9-9.

The Blue Raiders jumped out in front first, winning two of the doubles matches to claim the doubles point. MTSU earned victories in the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions. Frazier Rengifo and Yusuf Khamis were knotted at 5-5 before the match was halted following the clinching of the doubles point.

After the Blue Raiders doubled their lead to 2-0 from the No. 6 singles position, the Bucs jumped on the board as Sergi Fontcuberta defeated Gonzalo Morell in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5 from the No. 2 singles hole. ETSU then evened the contest at 2-2 from the No. 1 singles slot following Rengifo’s straight-set triumph over Stijn Slump, 6-1, 7-6. The Bucs won their third consecutive singles match, this time from the No. 5 singles position as Miguel Este defeated Chris Edge in thrilling fashion, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

With the Bucs ahead 3-2, the Blue Raiders mounted a comeback of their own, picking up wins in the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. ETSU did not go down without a fight however, as David Gonzalez forced three sets in the final singles match before ultimately falling 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

ETSU will be back in action on Sunday, March 17 when the Bucs host Elon at 1 p.m. at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex.

Singles competition 

  1. Frazier Rengifo (ETSU) def. Stijn Slump (MT), 6-1, 7-6
  2. Sergi Fontcuberta (ETSU) def. Gonzalo Morell (MT), 6-3, 7-5
  3. Tom Moonen (MT) def. Juan Lugo (ETSU), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
  4. Max Rauch (MT) def. David Gonzalez (ETSU), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
  5. Miguel Este (ETSU) def. Chris Edge (MT), 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
  6. Pavel Motl (MT) def. Taisei Miyamoto (ETSU), 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition

  1. #63 Chris Edge/Tom Moonen (MT) def. Juan Lugo/Chris Mikrovas (ETSU), 6-3
  2. Yusuf Khamis/Frazier Rengifo (ETSU) vs. Max Rauch/Francisco Rocha (MT), 5-5 unfinished
  3. Gonzalo Morell/Pavel Motl (MT) def. Sergi Fontcuberta/David Gonzalez (ETSU), 6-4

Match Notes: ETSU 9-4; MTSU 9-9

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,2,1,5,3,4)