The Stetson men's tennis team (4-0) continued its winning
ways in non-conference play, defeating Florida Atlantic (2-6) by a score of 5-2
on Sunday afternoon at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.
The Owls took the first two doubles matches to secure the
point and gain an early lead. Senior Didrik Berg and junior Hans Adrian Riseng
lost to Will Neuner and Jose Fantova by a score of 8-4. FAU clinched the point
when Andrei Morin-Kougoucheff and Robert Dubuque defeated freshmen Cahit
Kapukiran and Laurynas Antropikas by a score of 8-6.
Freshman Egor Panyushkin and Sophomore Chester Espie did not
finish their match against Sean Bacha and Richard Meade. The two squads were
tied 7-7 before moving on to singles play due to FAU already having won the
doubles point.
"The team once again recovered well from being down one
after the doubles," Director of Tennis Pierre Pilote said after the match. "We
played subpar at mid-point of the doubles, and FAU took advantage of that, but
we nearly came back at No. 2 and 3 [doubles positions] from 7-4 deficits."
In singles, the Hatters took five out of the six matches on
the day. Panyushkin finished first, defeating Meade 6-2, 6-2 to even the match
at 1-1. Berg then lost to Fantova by a score of 6-0, 6-2 to give FAU the lead
once again, at 2-1. At number two singles Antropikas defeated Neuner 6-4, 6-4
to tie the match at 2-2.
Freshman Simon Julin gave the Hatters a 3-2 lead with his
6-2, 6-2 victory against Matthew Samberg. At number six singles, Espie clinched
the victory for Stetson by defeating Bacha 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Kapukiran finished
the day for Stetson by defeating Morin-Kougoucheff 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.
Stetson is now off until the team heads to California for a
pair of matches. The first will be on March 6 against UC Riverside. That match
is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. eastern.
"Now it's preparation time for our California Trip," Stetson
assistant coach Christophe Noblet said. "Being able to go there with a 4-0
record was our objective."
Match Notes: Last 4-0
start was in 2011 (started 7-0) ... The four Hatter freshmen are undefeated in
singles (15-0) ... Stetson was defeated 5-2 by FAU in their last meeting on
February 28, 2009 ... Stetson fell from the ITA national rankings this past week
after being ranked #72.
