KENNESAW, Ga. — Kennesaw State men's tennis dropped its first match in three weeks in a 4-3 nail-biter versus North Florida on Thursday afternoon at Betty Siegel Courts.
"My guys continue to impress me every single match," said KSU associate head coach
Simon Pritchard. "They compete so hard regardless of the circumstances. I'm proud of this team, and I can't wait to get back out there with them next Friday."
KSU split No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, with
Kyvan Rietkerk and
Leon Peranovic falling 7-5 on court one, while
Anthony Weingarten and
Dominic Ducariu took court two 7-5 over UNF's Youssef Labbene and Riccardo Ciulli.
Ben Hudson and
Xavi Ferrer came up just short on court three in a doubles-deciding 7-6 loss.
A hotly contested singles play followed, with five of six matches decided in three sets.
The Owls trailed 3-0 after Hudson and Weingarten fell in three on courts one and three, respectively. Hudson battled back from a 6-2 set-one loss to take the second set 6-4 before falling 6-3 in three. Weingarten lost 7-5 in the first, rolled through the second 6-1, but was unable to take the match, losing 6-1 in set three.
Peranovic won the day's lone straight-set match with a 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 defeat of Labbene on court two. The win gives Peranovic a 10-5 season record.
KSU drew closer with a second point scored by Ducariu on court four. The freshman added his 10
th win of the season with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over the Ospreys' Joao Portugal.
UNF clinched the match as Breno Marques hung on to beat
Nathan Walters 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Ferrer finished the match strong for the Owls with a 6-7, 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Aron Major on six. The sophomore from Alicante, Spain, owns a team-high eight-match singles win streak and the Owls' second-most singles wins with 12.
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