ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Saint Leo men’s tennis team (1-2) collected its first win of the 2011 season, upending foe Eckerd College, 8-1, Wednesday afternoon from the Turley Athletic Complex in non-conference action.
The key road win was highlighted by a impressive singles display by the men as they managed to take each of the six matches. Earlier in the day, the Lions saw a pair of overwhelming victories at the in doubles.
The Lions quickly earned a 2-1 match advantage as they nipped the Tritons in the opening doubles portion. No. 3 doubles gave the Lions their first point as Pablo Chavez and Tom Gleeson teamed to overpower the Tritons’ pair of J.P. Walker and Aaron Kleefield in a decisive 8-3 victory.
Aloua Adjenak then partnered with Jose Morales to stake to an early 2-0 match advantage for the Green & Gold. The Lions duo jumped ahead of the talented Tritons’ pair of Dylan Randazzo and Erik Thunberg, and never looked back as they won by the score of 8-4.
The Lions came up just short of sweeping doubles action, however, as the 21st-ranked doubles tandem Matt Nicholson-Lewis and Victor Lozier were edged 9-8 in the super tiebreak.
Still, Head Coach James Bryce and the rest of the Lions’ bunch maintained high spirits moving into singles action.
Those thoughts quickly became a reality for the Lions as they dominated much of singles play. Adjenak struck with the Lions third point as he downed Thunberg in straight sets, 6-4,6-3. Nicholson-Lewis followed by ousting Maxwell in a competitive match, 6-3, 6-4. Lozier clinched the match for the Lions at No. 2 singles when he bounced Hisa Sato in a three-set thriller, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Tom Gleeson disposed of Ben Leavy in shutout fashion, 6-0, 6-0. Chavez went three sets with his opponent at No. 4 singles but eventually gained the upper hand on his opponent, rallying back from a first set loss to bead Walker, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.
Morales wrapped up action for the Lions as he took out Randazzo in consecutive 6-1, 6-1 match wins.
This is the first win over the Eckerd College squad since April 12, 2007.
On the day, Head Coach James Bryce was impressed by his team’s play, “I thought the guys played with great intensity today. This was a good win for us and I hope it jumps starts us for a busy weekend of tough competition.”
The Lions will now get prepped for their three-day trip to Georgia and Alabama. The Lions will open the road trek with a region contest against Peach Belt Conference foe, Columbus State. First serve is set for 3:00 p.m.
