BRUNSWICK, Ga.- The No. 19 Southeastern University Fire men's tennis team earned a pivotal road win in Sun Conference play Saturday afternoon, taking down the No. 22 College of Coastal Georgia Mariners 5-2 to win their fifth-straight match.
The Fire battled to capture the doubles' point. The duo of
Roy Stepanov and
Federico Barbon improved to 7-3 on the season at top line doubles with a 6-1 win to set the tone for the Fire. After dropping line three, the Fire roared back with a gritty 7-5 win at line two for SEU by
Victor Olivera and
Diego Menendez to put Southeastern up 1-0.
Barbon stayed hot in singles' action, winning line three in straight-sets where he only dropped a single game in each set. Stepanov made it a 3-0 Fire lead over the Mariners with a two-setter at the top line.
CCGA trimmed the Fire lead to 3-1 after a victory in straight-sets at line two.
It was Menendez who secured the victory for Southeastern at line five. After dropping the first set 6-1, the Gijon, Spain native bounced back with a 6-1 win of his own in set number two. Menendez closed out the match with a 6-0 shutout in the third set that put the Fire ahead 4-1.
Theodor Preiswerk also earned a three-set win at line four, taking a extra session tiebreaker 10-4.
Up next, the Fire host the No. 12 Middle Georgia State University Knights for a non-conference battle this upcoming Thursday. Match time inside the Beerman Family Tennis Complex is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
