HOUGHTON, Mich. – Michigan Tech fell 7-0 against Tiffin University to open the 2023 spring men's tennis season Wednesday afternoon at Gates Tennis Center.
Ambarish Rao and Ricardo Nunez took a set at No. 3 doubles for the Huskies but the Dragons won at No. 1 and No. 2 to grab an early match lead.
Leon Sell impressed in his Michigan Tech debut at No. 1 singles. Pitted against Tiffin's Ruben Fonga, Sell fought hard in the second set but dropped the tiebreaker 7-5. Fonga entered the week ranked No. 6 in Division II singles by the ITA.
"We lost the match 7-0, but I didn't feel the score reflected the fight that our guys showed today," commented head coach Kristin D'Agostini-Yep. "We prepared knowing Tiffin was a very difficult opponent and we never gave up on a point. It was great to see Leon play well for us at No. 1 singles. The fact that he gave Ruben Fonga a tough time in the second set shows what a great competitor he is.
With top singles player Vitor Jordao out of the lineup, Nikolai Prosjanykov played Michael Gurtner at No. 2 and fell 7-6(5), 6-4. Sophomore Adam Fenjiro, Eli Pinnoo, Ricardo Nunez, and Ambarish Rao also lost in straight sets.
Michigan Tech (0-1) travels to Lewis University to play the Flyers on Saturday, February 4 at 3 p.m. at Challenge Fitness.
Scores
Doubles
- TU (Michael Gurtner/Matthew Telford) def. MTU (Leon Sell/Eli Pinnoo) 6-3
- TU(Ruben Fonga/Matthew Weaver) def. MTU (Nikolai Prosjanykov/Adam Fenjiro) 6-0
- MTU (Ambarish Rao/Ricardo Nunez) def. TU (Cyrille Colomb/Matt Saunders) 6-2
Order of finish: 2,3,1
Singles
- TU ([6]Ruben Fonga) def. MTU (Leon Sell) 6-0, 7-6(5)
- TU (Michael Gurtner) def. MTU (Nikolai Prosjanykov) 7-6(5), 6-4
- TU (Matthew Telford) def. MTU (Adam Fenjiro) 6-4, 6-2
- TU (Matthew Weaver) def. MTU (Eli Pinnoo) 6-2, 6-1
- TU (Cyrille Colomb) def. MTU (Ricardo Nunez) 7-5, 6-0
- TU (Matt Saunders) def. MTU (Ambarish Rao) 6-2, 7-6(2)
Order of finish: 4,3,1,2,5,6
Time of the match: 3:35
