NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The FGCU men's tennis team won the doubles point but only won two singles matches to fall 4-3 to Atlantic Sun foe Lipscomb on Friday at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Complex.
FGCU falls to 6-9 (3-5 A-Sun) on the season and Lipscomb improves to 9-10 (4-4 A-Sun). The Eagles can still clinch a berth into the A-Sun tournament with a victory against Belmont on Saturday. With a win, FGCU would win a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Bruins who would finish 4-5 in conference with a loss.
The Green and Blue won all three doubles matches to sweep the doubles point. At No. 2 doubles, Dean Tsamas (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay HS) and Jackson Moore (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch HS/Georgia State) defeated Tanner Brown and Stuart Tierney, 8-3. The Eagles clinched the point with a 8-5 win from senior Matthew Rock (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Fort Lauderdale HS/Jacksonville) and sophomore Lance Lvovsky (Dania,Fla./Broward Virtual School/Jacksonville) against Oliver Strecker and Miguel Cortez, at No. 1 doubles.
In the final doubles match, the freshmen team of Michael Beiler (Palm Harbor, Fla./Dunedin HS) and Tianyu Bao (Tianjin, China/Bayshore HS) outlasted Colby Shaw and David Salazar, 9-7, at No. 3 doubles.
In singles, Lipscomb tied the match after Daniel Hernandez took down Moore, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 2 singles. The Bison took a 2-1 lead after Strecker won in straight sets against Bao, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1 singles.
At No. 4 singles, Rock fought back but lost to Shaw, 6-1, 7-5, to give Lipscomb a 3-1 lead. Rock was trailing 5-1 in the second set before rallying to tie the set at 5-5, but lost the last two games.
Tsamas cut the lead to 3-2 after a win in straight sets against Salazar, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
Tierney clinched the win for the Bison after defeating Beiler, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 6 singles.
In the final match, Lvovsky battled to a tough three set win against Cortez, 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (13-11), at No. 4 singles. Lvovsky would win the second set 6-4 and the super tiebreaker 13-11 to earn the Eagles' third point of the match.
Results and recaps will be available on www.FGCUathletics.com after each match this season.
Lipscomb 4, FGCU 3
Singles competition
1. Oliver Strecker (LIP) def. Tianyu Bao (FGCU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Daniel Hernandez (LIP) def. Jackson Moore (FGCU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Dean Tsamas (FGCU) def. David Salazar (LIP) 6-4, 6-1
4. Colby Shaw (LIP) def. Matthew Rock (FGCU) 6-1, 7-5
5. Lance Lvovsky (FGCU) def. Miguel Cortez (LIP) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (13-11)
6. Stuart Tierney (LIP) def. Michael Beiler (FGCU) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Matthew Rock/Lance Lvovsky (FGCU) def. Oliver Strecker/Miguel Cortez (LIP) 8-5
2. Jackson Moore/Dean Tsamas (FGCU) def. Tanner Brown/Stuart Tierney (LIP) 8-3
3. Tianyu Bao/Michael Beiler (FGCU) def. Colby Shaw/David Salazar (LIP) 9-7
Match Notes:
FGCU 6-9, 3-5 A-Sun
Lipscomb 9-10, 4-4 A-Sun
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,4,3,6,5)
