It was hard sledding for the #6 NAIA Southeastern men's tennis team this afternoon as they paid the #12 DII Embry-Riddle (Fla.) Eagles a visit. The Fire came up empty in the road match as the Eagles took every game after dropping the very first doubles match, eventually overpowering the Fire in a 7-0 effort.
Doubles starting in promising fashion for the Fire as their powerhouse doubles team #5
Bruno Pessoa and
Diego Menendez made short work of the Eagles #17 Michele Iftimie and Joshua Nuyts 6-2. The Eagles bounced back, taking the last two doubles contests in a 7-6 (7-3) win in flight two and a 6-4 win in flight three giving Embry-Riddle the starting 1-0 lead.
Singles was more difficult for Southeastern as their usual line one and two players, Menendez and Pessoa sat out this round, making #70
Alejandro Orihuela the starting line one.
Every singles match went in favor of the Eagles with a tight contest at line two between
Piero Fernandez of the Fire and #59 Nuyts representing the home team. Both sets went into extras with Nuyts prevailing 7-6(7-4) - 7-6(7-3).
Fernando Alonso of Embry-Riddle finished off
Gustavo Rubio in flight four, finishing first with a 6-4, 6-4 win. Next to come was
Mark Griffin and Iftimie, a closely contested match which Iftimie handled 6-4, 7-5 in line three.
Line one concluded soon after as Orihuela fell to #31 in DII Safar Rasulov 6-1, 7-6(7-2). Fernandez's and Nuyt's ended next.
Lines five and six finished last as Caelan Potts defeated
Federico Boscolo in line six 6-0, 6-2 and
Sam Reeder of Southeastern went down to Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo 6-0, 6-4.
The Fire hit the road next Wednesday, heading to Brunswick, Ga. for the annual Sun Conference Tournament where the Fire stand tall as the two seed going in. The tournament will end on April 27.
