CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Kennesaw State men's tennis won four singles matches to secure its first victory of the season in a 4-3 defeat of Stetson on Sunday afternoon at Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
"I have lost count of how many 4-3 matches we've had with Stetson, and it was great to come out on top of this one," said KSU associate head coach
Simon Pritchard. "Stetson played a great doubles point, but all six guys came back out in singles and played tough tennis in tricky conditions."
The Owls have now beaten Stetson, an old ASUN foe, in five of their last seven meetings.
Despite losing the doubles point to the Hatters, the Owls bounced back quickly in singles play with
Leon Peranovic winning on court three in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) over Stetson's Xavier Sarda Marti.
Nathan Walters,
Xavi Ferrer and
Dominic Ducariu each won two of three sets to take singles points and clinch the match for KSU.
Walters overcame Stetson's Marc Saura with wins of 6-2 and 6-3 in sets two and three, respectively. Ferrer took sets one and three (6-1, 6-4) from Kartik Mandla while Ducariu delivered the Owls' their fourth point with a defeat of the Hatters' James Lorenzetti (5-7, 6-3, 6-4).
Ducariu also joined
Ben Hudson in defeating Mandla and Alexandre Verlaguet, 6-4, in KSU's lone doubles match win of the day. Both Ducariu and Walters, a pair of true freshmen, recorded their first collegiate singles victories on Sunday.
"The freshman stepped up big time today, accounting for 3 of our 4 points," Pritchard said. "I know the guys are excited to get back out there and open our home slate on Friday!"
UP NEXT
KSU plays its first three home matches of the season Feb. 6-8 versus Samford, Troy and Georgia State. Each match will begin at 1 p.m. EST at Betty Siegel Courts.
The Owls Fund
The Owls Fund is the primary fundraising arm of Kennesaw State Athletics with the goal of supporting our student-athletes, coaches and each of our 18 NCAA Division I programs. Through initiatives such as Legacy Lockers, the Dot Martin Scholarship Golf Classic, sport-specific giving opportunities, general donations and season tickets, The Owls Fund connects fans with KSU's programs and student-athletes. Members receive exclusive benefits such as hospitality seating areas and events at Kennesaw State home games, and more. Join The Owls Fund here and discover more opportunities on how you can support Kennesaw State Athletics.
