HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's tennis team closed the opening weekend of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition with a 9-0 loss to Tiffin University on Sunday at the Gates Tennis Center. The Huskies held their own against the Dragons with a number of close competitions in both the doubles and singles potions of the match.
"I'm proud of our team's effort today and we played well against a very good Tiffin team," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec. "We played tough and I thought we did a really nice job in doubles today. Our guys are competing hard and continuing to progress and improve."
Mario Neto took Luis Ludena to three sets in the No. 1 singles contest Sunday afternoon for Michigan Tech (1-5, 0-2 GLIAC) Neto won the first set 6-4, suffered a 6-2 loss in set two before going toe to toe with Ludena in the deciding set. He unfortunately came up just a bit short 10-6. Ricardo Paes was also strong for Tech in the No. 3 spot in the lineup Sunday against Elio Lezama, but fell 6-4 and 6-3. In other singles showdowns, Andrew Isaac topped Juan Felipe Chica 6-2, 6-1, Agustin Mangone won 6-2, 6-4 over Illiya Chibirev, Toby Cutting defeated Tayler Bethke 6-0, 6-1, and Sorin Novatchi got past Jacob Prochnow 6-0, 6-0.
In doubles on Sunday, the Huskies put the pressure on the Dragons in two of the three matchups. Illiya Chibirev teamed up with Tayler Bethke to push Agustin Mangone/Sorin Novatchi to the wire. The Tiffin duo eventually held on for an 8-6 decision. Jacob Prochnow and Ricardo Paes of Tech had a solid performance in No. 2 doubles, just missing a win against Andrew Isaac/Elio Lezama of Tiffin 8-5.
The Huskies will be back on the court next weekend for two more GLIAC matches as they travel to Findlay and Hillsdale. Tech battles Findlay on Friday at 2 p.m. and takes on Hillsdale Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
The full results of Sunday's match against Tiffin are below.
Tiffin University 9, Michigan Tech 0
Mar 19, 2017 at Houghton, Mich. (Gates Tennis Center)
Singles
1. Luis Ludena (TU) def. Mario Neto (MTM) 4-6, 6-2, 10-6
2. Andrew Isaac (TU) def. Juan Felipe Chica (MTM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Elio Lezama (TU) def. Ricardo Paes (MTM) 6-4, 6-3
4. Agustin Mangone (TU) def. Illiya Chibirev (MTM) 6-2, 6-4
5. Toby Cutting (TU) def. Tayler Bethke (MTM) 6-0, 6-1
6. Sorin Novatchi (TU) def. Jacob Prochnow (MTM) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. Luis Ludena/Toby Cutting (TU) def. Mario Neto/Juan Felipe Chica (MTM) 8-0
2. Andrew Isaac/Elio Lezama (TU) def. Jacob Prochnow/Ricardo Paes (MTM) 8-5
3. Agustin Mangone/Sorin Novatchi (TU) def. Illiya Chibirev/Tayler Bethke (MTM) 8-6
Match Notes
Tiffin University 11-4, 2-0 GLIAC
Michigan Tech 1-5, 0-2 GLIAC
