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ATLANTA, Ga. – Sophomore Alexander Pena went undefeated in both of his singles and doubles matches, but the Kennesaw State men’s tennis team fell to Florida Gulf Coast, 6-1, on Saturday, March 23 at the Byers Tennis Complex on the campus of Georgia Tech.
 
Due to weather in the area, the match was moved to the indoor courts at the Byer Tennis Complex at Georgia Tech.


The Owls move to 3-11 and 0-3 in the Atlantic Sun Conference, while the Eagles improve to 8-7 and 3-1 in league play.

“We did a great job of putting ourselves in position to win, but we simply did not play the big points as well as they did today,” said Head Coach T.J. Greggs. “If we can play at this level the rest of the way, we will be going in the right direction.”
 
After a defeat at No. 2 doubles, Pena and senior Gokalp Ozdemir combined for an 8-5 win over Lance Lvovsky and Jackson Moore on court three to set up a showdown on court one for the doubles point. Down 6-2 in their match, freshman Tobi Menhofer and sophomore Louis Theodor fought back to force a tiebreaker. The duo’s comeback would fall short, with Jordi Vives and Dean Tsamas giving FGCU the early 1-0 lead with a 9-8 (7-1) win.
 
In singles action, Pena delivered a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-2) win over Dylan Gunning at No. 5 singles for the lone KSU point of the match.
 
Freshman Maksim Yorsh fell 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to Tianyu Bao on court two, but was down to match point in the second set and rallied to send the match to a third set before falling to the reigning A-Sun Freshman of the Year.
 
Along with both Pena and Yorsh, Theodor and Ozdemir also took their opponents to three sets, but were unable to post the wins for the Owls.
 
Kennesaw State next travels to Nashville, Tenn., for a 1 p.m. (ET) match against Lipscomb on Thursday, March 28.
 
Keep up with Owls men's tennis this year by following KSU on Twitter at @KSUTennisCoach and @KSUOwlNation or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on Facebook. 
 
Kennesaw State University is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.  
 
Florida Gulf Coast 6, Kennesaw State 1
Singles
1. Jordi Vives (FGCU) def. Tobi Menhofer (KSUM) 6-4, 6-1
2. Tianyu Bao (FGCU) def. Maksim Yorsh (KSUM) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
3. Dean Tsamas (FGCU) def. Gianni Kubin (KSUM) 6-3, 6-3
4. Jackson Moore (FGCU) def. Louis Theodor (KSUM) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-6)
5. Alexander Pena (KSUM) def. Dylan Gunning (FGCU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-2)
6. Lance Lvovsky (FGCU) def. Gokalp Ozdemir (KSUM) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-4)
 
Doubles
1. Jordi Vives/Dean Tsamas (FGCU) def. Tobi Menhofer/Louis Theodor (KSUM) 9-8 (7-1)
2. Tianyu Bao/Dylan Gunning (FGCU) def. Maksim Yorsh/Gianni Kubin (KSUM) 8-5
3. Alexander Pena/Gokalp Ozdemir (KSUM) def. Lance Lvovsky/Jackson Moore (FGCU) 8-5
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,3,2,4,5,6)