The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s tennis team dropped a tight 4-3 match to Austin Peay in its home opener today. The Mocs won the doubles point, but could not maintain their momentum in singles play at the Hixson Racquet Club.
Juniors Luke Saunders and Nick Wingord set the tone early in doubles. They posted a 6-1 win over Aleksas Tverijonas and Aaron Jumonville at No. 2. Junior John Peacey and sophomore Lucas Plesky clinched the point with a 6-4 win over Dimitar Ristovski and Iago Seffrin at No. 1. Junior Gino Delavalle and Nic Wilson finished off the Governors in doubles with a win at No. 3.
APSU evened the match quickly when Peacey was forced to retire at No. 6. Ristovski gave the Govs a 2-1 lead with his (6-0, 7-5) win over senior Pavels Grigorjevs at No. 1.
The Govs went up 3-1 when Jumonville defeated Plesky (6-4, 6-4) at No. 3. The Mocs were trailing in two of the three remaining matches, but managed to mount a strong comeback.
Saunders won his match at No. 4 and Delavalle bounced back after losing the first set for a win at No. 5. Down a set and the team scored tied at 3-3, Wingord forced a breaker in the second, but could not pull out the win to extend the match.
The Mocs are right back on the court tomorrow, hosting Belmont. First serve is 11:00 a.m. (E.S.T.) at the Hixson Racquet Club. A link for live scoring is available on the men’s tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com.
Austin Peay 4, Chattanooga 3
Jan 24, 2015 at Chattanooga, Tn (Hixson Racquet Club)
Doubles competition
1. John Peacey/Lucas Plesky (UTC) def. Dimitar Ristovski/Iago Seffrin (APSU) - 6-4
2. Luke Saunders/Nick Wingord (UTC) def. Aleksas Tverijonas/Aaron Jumonville (APSU) - 6-1
3. Gino Delavalle/Nic Wilson (UTC) def. Evan Borowski/Manuel Montenegro (APSU) - 6-4
Singles competition
1. Dimitar Ristovski (APSU) def. Pavels Grigorjevs (UTC) 6-0, 7-5
2. Aleksas Tverijonas (APSU) def. Nick Wingord (UTC) 7-5, 7-6 (4)
3. Aaron Jumonville (APSU) def. Lucas Plesky (UTC) 6-4, 6-4
4. Luke Saunders (UTC) def. Iago Seffrin (APSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Gino Delavalle (UTC) def. Manuel Montenegro (APSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. James Mitchell (APSU) def. John Peacey (UTC) 6-3, retired