MELBOURNE, Fla. — Playing its fourth match on the six-match road trip, the St. Mary's University Men's Tennis team fought through high winds and a talented opponent, falling 5-2 to East Florida State on Tuesday morning.
"East Florida State played much better doubles than us," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom. "They maintained their high energy level during the singles as well, which is why they are a top-ranked junior college. The wind was pretty difficult today, and they had a much better grasp of how to use it to their advantage."
The Titans (4-0) won all three doubles matches, taking the first team point of the match with their 6-3, 7-6 (5), and 6-4 decisions on courts one through three, respectively. They stretched the lead to 4-0 with singles wins at the top two ladder spots, as well as ladder spot four, before the Rattlers (3-4) broke onto the scoreboard with senior
Alvaro Soler's (Alicante, Spain) win at number three.
Soler dropped his first set 6-1 before fighting back to win the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4) and then getting several breaks of serve to win the final set 6-3. At number five,
Aaron Ben Anton (Remseck, Germany) won in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 for the second team point.
For the first time on the long trip, the Rattlers will play on back-to-back days, squaring off at Palm Beach Atlantic on Wednesday morning. First serve is set for 10 a.m. (ET)/9 a.m. (CT)
