Huskies Battle in 5-2 Loss to Tiffin University
MIDLAND, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's tennis team fell to Tiffin University 5-2 Sunday morning in a non-conference match at the Midland Tennis Center. The Huskies had some strong performances though in doubles and singles which proved to be a step forward for the young team.
"I thought we played really well today and made some good progress as a team," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec said. "There was significant improvement up and down the lineup in singles and I thought we played even better in doubles today which was a great step for us. We need to continue to work on limiting our mistakes especially in singles, but overall I'm really proud of the effort of our players this weekend and look forward to competing against a talented Wisconsin-Green Bay team next Sunday."
Michigan Tech (0-2) earned the doubles point on Sunday with wins in two out of the three matches. Mario Neto and Siddhesh Mahadeshwar went toe to toe with Sorin Navrotchi and Tom Arias of Tiffin (4-3) in No.1 doubles. The duo of Neto and Mahadeshwar outlasted the Dragons 7-6 with a 6-2 tiebreaker that decided the outcome.
Nico Caviglia and Ignacio Carbajosa held in there against Nikita Parfenov and Hugo Chatras before falling 6-2 in No. 2 doubles. Juan Felipe Chica and Nathan Sodini were able to secure the doubles point with a solid 6-2 victory over Tiffin's Ryan Gase and Caleb Carter. Felipe Chica and Sodini established a strong foothold in the match and held on for the win.
Unfortunately, the Dragons were able to take five of the singles points to come back for the overall match win. Neto was lined up against S. de la Rosa Mora in No. 1 singles, coming up just short in three sets with tiebreakers deciding two of the three. Neto prevailed in set one 7-6 with a 7-4 tiebreaker to grab the early lead. Mora fought back to win set two 6-2 before the two players traded point for point in set three 7-6 with a 10-7 tiebreaker going in Mora's favor.
Parfenov topped Caviglia 6-3, 6-1 in No.2 singles, Carbajosa fell to Navrotchi 6-2, 6-1 in No.3 singles, and Arias slipped past Mahadeshwar 6-3, 6-1 in No. 4 singles. Felipe Chica challenged Hugo Chatras in No. 5 singles, falling in set one 6-3 before nearly forcing a third with a closely contested second frame. Chatras ended up edging out Neto in that second set 7-5.
Sodini logged his first collegiate win Sunday with an impressive 6-2, 6-0 win in No. 6 singles. Sodini got off to a quick start and never looked back to earn the Huskies a singles point in Sunday's match.
The Huskies will be back on the court next Sunday at NCAA Division I University of Wisconsin-Green Bay for a non-conference match starting at 4:30 p.m. eastern time.