LAKELAND, Fla. – After playing back-to-back Division I opponents, the St. Mary's University Men's Tennis team fought tough against No. 21 Florida Southern on Sunday, losing 4-3.
The Rattlers (3-3) jumped out to the early lead, winning two of three doubles matches for the first point of the day.
"We played more aggressively in the doubles today, and it paid off," said Director of Tennis
Bill Macom. "We definitely had opportunities in the singles and just didn't win enough 40-40 points. However, we did a really good job trying to put pressure on our opponents, but obviously needed to do that more often."
Freshman Lucas Castillo-Sanchez (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and senior
Alvaro Soler (Alicante, Spain), playing together for the first time this year, won 6-3 on court two to give StMU an early edge. The Mocs tied it up, winning 7-5 on court one, while the deciding doubles went to a tiebreak. Junior
Aaron Ben Anton (Remseck, Germany) and graduate student
Pierre Copin (Vidauban, Var, France) hit another speed in the tiebreaker, winning all seven points to give the Rattlers the 1-0 advantage.
Florida Southern took the lead, winning at number two and three singles in straight sets. However, Castillo-Sanchez knotted the match at 2-2 with his 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles.
Copin won 6-4, 6-4 at line five to give the lead back to the Gold and Blue and
Leonardo Fabbri (Faenza, Italy) fought tough against #41 Sam Frizelle, but eventually fell 6-3, 1-6, 5-7, and the Mocs grabbed the win with a straight sets victory at line six.
The long road trip continues for the Rattlers as they play at Eastern Florida State on Tuesday at 10 a.m. (ET)/9 a.m. (CT).
