Orlando, Fla. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Tennis team continued their Florida spring break tour on Tuesday, by rallying to defeat Lewis University 4-3 to pick up a fourth straight victory.
STAC improves to 6-2 on the year, while Lewis slips back to the .500 mark at 7-7.
STAC opened the contest, dropping all three doubles contests, as Matias Parzajuk & Indrek Soome downing Ludovico Truffelli & Ondrej Sramek at No. 1, followed by Oliwer Wierzbicki & Tatenda Mutetwa beating Don Vinz Lominoque & Nathan Yacar, 6-4 at No. 2 and Kristen Pavitt & Roberto Leal sealing the sweep by winning against Seth Newman & Henry Ronnberg, 7-5 at No. 3
In singles action, STAC tied the score at 1-1, as #6 Lennart Lehmann beat Santiago Carbajal 6-0, 6-0 , before the Spartans reclaimed the one-point advantage at 2-1 with #3 Ondrej Sramek defeating Oliwer Wierzbicki 6-2, 6-2. Lewis would battle to take a 3-2 advantage, as Indrek Soome scored a victory over Ludovico Truffelli, 6-1, 6-1 in #2 singles and Matias Parzajuk beat Don Vinz Lominoque 6-1, 6-4 at the #1 position. However, the Spartans would fight back in their remaining singles contests to take the team victory, as #5 Henry Ronnberg defeated Tatenda Muetetwa to square things at 3-3. Then Seth Newman's 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Roberto Leal at the #4 spot clinched the match and gave the maroon and gold a very important victory over a solid Flyers squad.
STAC 4/LEWIS 3 - OFFICIAL RESULTS
Order of Finish: 1, 2*, 3
SINGLES
"We had a long day on the courts today", remarked Head Coach Dan Rockhill.
"Our men had a difficult time in the doubles but we are getting closer", said Rockhill. "We just could not execute when we had our opportunities. Our depth bailed us out again today and I was happy for Lenny. He provided a huge lift getting us our first point in a hurry. Thankfully, Seth was able to complete his match and win after twisting his ankle early in the second set. He showed a lot of grit and determination.:
"The women struggled today", stated Rockhill. "Some of the team had difficulty with the mental component of their matches. We started well but we were not able to maintain concentration throughout the entire match. Elise continued her solid play. She has a lot of experience and leads by example on the court."
We know that we will need to be better on Thursday and Friday", said Rockhill. I have a lot of confidence in both teams. We came here knowing that we had challenges but are excited to complete with some of the best teams in the country."