SAVANNAH, Ga. – Saturday brought a mix of milestones for Southeastern University men's tennis. The Fire clinched a share of their first-ever Sun Conference regular season title but also suffered their first defeat of the season, falling 4-3 on the road to No. 10 SCAD-Savannah.
The afternoon began on a high note for SEU, as the Fire secured the doubles point with wins in two of the three matches. However, the Bees surged in singles play, claiming victories in four of the top five positions to earn the narrow team win.
In doubles play, SEU's top team of Piero Fernandez and Diego Menendez earned a 6-4 win over David Lopez Cruz and Danil Ozernoy. At No. 3 doubles, Alejandro Orihuela and Mark Griffin also won 6-4 against Ahmed Abdelaziz and Adam Jaupart to clinch the point.
SCAD responded with a dominant performance at No. 1 singles, as Ozernoy defeated Menendez 6-1, 6-0. Griffin answered for the Fire at No. 5, taking the first set in a tiebreaker (7-6) and cruising to a 6-1 win in the second over Henri Wieber. Gonzalo Fernandez added SEU's second singles win with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Abdelaziz at the No. 6 spot.
The Bees took the remaining singles matches in hard-fought contests. At No. 2, Tryakshin edged Piero Fernandez 6-3, 6-4. Jaupart outlasted Mauro Gallego in a tight three-set battle, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6. The deciding match came at No. 4, where Diego Fernandez sealed the SCAD victory with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-0) win over Orihuela.
Despite the loss, Southeastern (14-1) finishes the regular season in a three-way tie atop the Sun Conference standings. The Fire previously defeated No. 2 Keiser 4-3 on March 22, and Keiser followed with a 4-1 win over SCAD.
Up Next
The Fire will enter the postseason as the number three seed and will play sixth-seeded Warner on Wednesday, April 23rd, in The Sun Conference tournament, hosted by The College of Coastal Georgia.
