HOUGHTON, Mich. - Michigan Tech men's tennis concluded its 2020-21 spring season Monday with a 6-1 loss to Lake Superior State in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition at Gates Tennis Center. The Lakers won a pair of tight tiebreakers in doubles, then took five singles matches to put away the Huskies, who ended the year with a record of 0-12. Eli Pinnoo was a singles winner for MTU over Xavier Vicent Navarro 3-6, 7-6(4), 15-13. Both players saved multiple match points before Pinnoo finally finished it off. Pinnoo played alongside Siddhesh Mahadeshwar in doubles against his brother Seth Pinnoo, a match which also reached a tiebreaker.
The Lakers' Pinnoo won the family bragging rights 7-6(4). The Huskies started out with a win at No. 3 doubles with seniors Nico Caviglia and Nacho Carbajosa playing motivated tennis for a 6-4 set over Diego Penz and Harris Irfan Ul Haq. The team doubles point was decided at No. 2. Ricardo Nunez Cuestra and Ambarish Rao fell behind 6-4 in the tiebreaker, stayed alive with a racket contact official overrule, but lost 7-5 on an unforced error into the net.
Freshman Ricardo Nunez lost at No. 1 singles to the big serving Juho Kantola 6-2, 6-1. Mahadeshwar fared slightly better at No. 3 with a 6-2, 6-2 scoreline. Drop shots and extended points were routine at No. 6 singles where Caviglia lost 6-3, 6-4 to Diego Penz. Rao won four games in a loss at No. 5 singles and Carbajosa lost 6-3, 6-2 in his final match at No. 4.
Michigan Tech men's tennis missed the top-six to qualify for the GLIAC tournament. They return to action next spring.
Scores
Doubles
1. LSSU (Kantola/S. Pinnoo) def. MTU (E. Pinnoo/Mahadeshwar) 7-6(4)
2. LSSU (Shah/Miller) def. MTU (Nunez/Rao) 7-6(5)
3. MTU (Caviglia/Carbajosa) def. LSSU (Penz/Irfan Ul Haq) 6-4
Singles
1- LSSU (Kantola) def. MTU (Nunez) 6-2, 6-1
2- MTU (Pinnoo) def. LSSU (Vicent Navarro) 3-6, 7-6(13)
3- LSSU (Taneja) def. MTU (Mahadeshwar) 6-2, 6-2
4- LSSU (Irfan Ul Haq) def. MTU (Carbajosa) 6-3, 6-2
5- LSSU (Rao) def. MTU (Pinnoo) 6-1, 6-3
6- LSSU (Penz) def. MTU (Caviglia) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 3,1,2 | 4,1,3,2,5,6
