LUBBOCK, Texas — The St. Mary's University Men's Tennis team ran into a juggernaut on Thursday morning, getting swept by No. 8 Lubbock Christian at the Penny Gullo Tennis Center.
The Rattlers (12-4, 2-2) struggled to find any rhythm against the Chaparrals (15-5, 5-0), and only senior
Aaron Ben Anton (Remseck, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) was able to force a third set after winning the second set 6-2 at number six singles. Anton dropped the 10-point tiebreaker 10-5.
Director of Tennis
Bill Macom continues to experiment with doubles combinations, as freshmen
Diego Alvarez (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and
Ollie Eriksson (Austin, Texas) played together for only the second time this year, falling 6-2 at line one to the sixth-ranked tandem of Mattia Ghedin and Kelly Giese.
"Unfortunately, after losing the doubles point, we got behind in most of the singles matches and couldn't catch up," Macom said. "Lubbock is a very deep team that gains more confidence when they establish a lead."
Freshman
Nikita Gavrilonoks (Riga, Latvia) and junior
Louis Hein (Hamburg, Germany) teamed up for the first time this season and dropped a 6-3 decision to No. 29 Andres De Los Rios and Pablo Segura.
The number three team of sophomore
Lucas Castillo Sanchez (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and freshman
Victor Velter (Paris, France) remained steady, but snapped a three-match winning streak with their 6-4 loss.
The Chaps have three singles players ranked in the top 26 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, as Geise at number one is ranked third, Segura is 16th at line two and De Los Rios is 26th at line four.
The Rattlers remain on the road, closing a five-game road trip on Friday at UT Permian Basin. First serve is slated for Noon at the Bush Tennis Center in Odessa.
