DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After a pair of exhibition tuneups, the Fire came out in upset fashion on Saturday. Southeastern University scored four singles victories and beat NCAA DII's No. 11 Embry-Riddle University, 5-2, in men's tennis action.
After taking two of the three doubles matches, SEU's Piero Fernandez, Diego Menendez and Javier Gallego ran off singles wins at the top three flights and Mark Griffin added a fourth for the win.
Fernandez and Menedez took a tight first singles by a 7-6 (7-3) final over the Eagles' Michele Iftimie/Joshua Nuyts pairing. Gallego and Gonzalo Fernandez gained the doubles point with a 6-2 decision over the Eagles pair of Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo/Enrico Rosellini.
At the top singles, Fernandez claimed the SEU win by a 6-3 and 6-2 sets over Embry-Riddle's No. 36-ranked Wilson Igbinovia. Galleo added a 6-1 and 6-4 straight sets win over Rosellini for the third singles. Griffin took the sixth singles by 6-2 and 6-4 scores over Enrique Amaya.
The tightest Fire win came at second singles. Menendez outlasted the Eagles' Nuyts in the first set tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5). Menedez clinched the win with a 6-3 second set.
SEU will have 10 days until they return to action with a short trip to Orlando, where they take on Davenport University on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
SEU 5, Embry-Riddle 2
Doubles
1 – Piero Fernandez/Diego Menendez (SEU) def. Michele Iftimie/Joshua Nuyts – 7-6 (7-3)
2 – Javier Gallego/Gonzalo Fernandez (SEU) def. Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo – 6-2
3 – Wilson Igbinovia/Mason Cisco (ERU) def. Alejandro Orihuela/Mark Griffin – 7-6 (7-4)
Singles
1 - P. Fenandez (SEU) def. Igbinovia – 6-3, 6-2
2 – Menendez (SEU) def. Nuyts – 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
3 – Gallego (SEU) def. Rosellini – 6-1, 6-4
4 – Rodrigo (ERU) def. Orihuela – 6-3, 6-1
5 – Cisco (ERU) def. G. Fernandez – 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8)
6 – Griffin (SEU) def. Enrique Amaya – 6-2, 6-4
