SAN ANTONIO — Finishing the match minutes before the sky opened and the rain began to fall on San Antonio, the St. Mary's University Men's Tennis returned home to drop a 7-0 decision to No. 16 Harding on Wednesday.
"I think we played pretty well today," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom. "The difference in the match was the 40-all points where Harding was a little stronger serving, and they did not make as many fundamental errors as we did. Hopefully, we can make some adjustments for Friday because Western New Mexico is a very good team as well."
Freshman
Lucas Castillo Sanchez (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) was points away from upsetting 20th-ranked Adrian Solorzano at number two singles. Solorzano won the first set in a tiebreaker before Castillo Sanchez came storming back in the second set to win 6-2. The pair went to a tiebreak in the third set as well, with Solorzano edging out Castillo Sanchez 7-4.
Senior
Pierre Copin (Vidauban, Var, France) was also a few points away from a win at three singles. Copin dropped the first set 7-5 but got a late break of serve in the second set for the 7-5 win. The match outcome had already been decided, so the two played a 10-point tiebreaker, with Cian Mikkelsen winning 10-8.
Sophomore
Leonardo Fabbri (Faenza, Italy) took on the tough task at number one singles of playing 10th-ranked Cas de Ruiter and took him to three sets but lost steam in the deciding set, falling 5-7, 6-3, 0-6.
The Rattlers remain at Rohrbach Tennis Stadium, hosting Western New Mexico on Friday for the Lone Star Conference opener for both teams. StMU also hosts the annual Alumni match on Saturday and LSC newcomer, Sul Ross State on Sunday.
