Huskies Topped by Illinois-Springfield
HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Michigan Tech men's tennis team suffered a 7-0 non-conference loss to Illinois-Springfield on day two of the Spring Tennis Fest held in Hilton Head, South Carolina. The Huskies opened their spring break trip with a 4-3 win on Sunday against Kutztown.
"Our players competed hard today against a very good Illinois-Springfield team," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec said. "We are a young club that is growing with each match. I thought we did some things well in both doubles and singles, but there are still some areas that we need to improve in. We'll look to keep moving forward and regroup Wednesday against Shepherd."
Michigan Tech (1-4) struggled to get a foothold in the match as Illinois-Springfield (7-2) managed to win all three doubles contests. Senior Mario Neto and freshman Siddhesh Mahadeshwar fell in the No. 1 spot to Sam Clarke and Tommy Martinez 6-1. Sophomore Nico Caviglia and sophomore Ignacio Carbajosa lost 6-2 to Logan Burgess Hayes and Menno Servaes in No. 2 doubles and Alex Chan and Oscar Toro got past senior Juan Felipe Chica and freshman Nathan Sodini 6-1 in No. 3 doubles.
Trailing 1-0 going into singles competition, the Huskies were unfortunately unable to make up any ground. Clarke and Neto matched up in No. 1 singles with Clarke scoring a 6-1, 6-1 decision in the match. Cavigilia fell to Martinez 6-0, 6-0 in No. 2 singles while Hayes got past Carbajosa 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 3 spot in the lineup.
Mahadeshwar suffered a 6-2, 6-1 setback to Chan in No. 4 singles and in No. 5 singles Felipe Chica made some solid shots early, but ended up falling in two sets to Toro 6-3, 6-0. Sodini battled Matthew Lapsley in No. 6 singles, striking early for points in each set before falling 6-2, 6-2.
The Huskies have Tuesday off before returning to the court Wednesday morning to take on Shepherd. The first serve is slated for 9:00 a.m. eastern time.