DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Saint Leo men’s tennis team (0-2) opened its 2011 regular season in unusual fashion as they competed in a road doubleheader. The Lions experienced a 7-2 setback in their morning matchup with Embry Riddle, before being upended by Division I foe Stetson, 7-0, in the afternoon.
Overall, the competitive Lions grabbed a pair of singles victories on Saturday, while being edged on the doubles side of both matches.
Against Embry-Riddle, the Lions challenged the dangerous Eagles’ squad, but could not garner a doubles point. At No. 3, the Lions’ team of Pablo Chavez and Tom Gleeson fell to Simon Feliz and Adrian Bayh, 8-4, for the first point of the match. It was a similar score at No. 2 doubles as the Saint Leo pair of Jose Morales and Aloua Adjenak dropped an 8-5 decision to Peter Francis and Chris Freeman.
Meanwhile, the Lions’ No. 1 duo of Victor Lozier and Matt Nicholson-Lewis ended up on the short end of the most challenging match of the day as they were cut down by Jan Hoekzema and Patrick Besch, 9-7.
Singles was a bit more successful for the men, as they saw a pair of super tiebreaking wins at the No. 2 and No. 4 positions. Lozier ousted Besch at the No. 2 spot, 7-6, 2-6, 10-7, while Adjenak bounced Francis in three sets, 7-5, 5-7, 10-5.
In addition, Nicholson-Lewis put up a competitive fight at the No. 1 spot but could not find the late match points to upset his opponent as he fell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
Against Stetson, the Lions continued to exhibit the ability to compete with the best, and despite not recording a win, were able to push many of Stetson’s players to the brink.
The Lions’ talent was especially exhibited in doubles action as both the Lions’ No.2 and No. 3 pairs dropped identical 8-6 decisions. Adjenak./Morales were edged at No.2 and Chavez/Gleeson also saw the same two-point defeat at No.3.
Again, the Saint Leo No. 1 pair produced a thrilling outcome in their match as Nicholson-Lewis/Lozier nicked in a back-and-forth struggle, 9-7.
The singles group also saw success including Nicholson-Lewis at No. 1 and Morales at No. 6. Each straight-set defeats, Nicholson-Lewis was nipped by the scores of 7-5, 6-3. Morales, on the other hand, put up a valiant, 6-3, 6-2 effort.
On the day, Head Coach James Bryce was happy with the first day of the season, “Overall, it was a very productive opening day. The final team scores don’t justify how well we played and fought. We have 10 days to get ready for Eckerd, as well as our trips to Georgia and Alabama. We’ll be ready.”
Next, the Lions will square-off with Eckerd College in non-conference action from St. Petersburg, Fla. First serve of the region slate is set for 3:00 p.m. from the Eckerd campus.
Box Score: Match One
Box Score: Match Two
