Men's Tennis | 2/21/2015 8:45:00 PM
DALLAS, Texas – The St. Edward's Men's Tennis team won its Heartland Conference opener as they defeated Dallas Baptist by a score of 9-0, Saturday afternoon at Kiest Park.
The 23
rd-ranked Hilltoppers started the doubles portion of the match on a strong note as they took all three matches. At No. 1 doubles,
PATRICK CLYNES and
MAXIMO AGOGLIA defeated Cannon Jones and Zane Nelson by a score of 8-4. The No. 2 doubles match up saw an identical outcome as the seventh-ranked team of
FELIX BAKE and
RICARDO PINEDA took down Bryant Forshee and Leighton Forshee by a score of 8-4.
SOTIRIS TSIOUMAS and
DAVOR IVKOVIC continued their strong play from the No. 3 doubles spot as they clinched the sweep of the double portion, beating Anthony Burch and Jake Johnson 8-4.
A quick intermission did not slow down the Hilltoppers as they would drop only a single set in the singles portion of the match. Clynes got things started at the No. 1 spot as he defeated Jones by a score of 6-2, 6-1. The No. 2 match saw
RICARDO PINEDA and Leighton Forshee battle it out in a competitive match, but Pineda prevailed 6-4, 6-4. At No. 4
MAXIMO AGOGLIA clinched the match for the Hilltoppers as he took down Jackson 6-0, 6-2.
The freshman combination of
DAVOR IVKOVIC and
SOTIRIS TSIOUMAS took a point in their doubles match, but each of them played very well in their singles match too. Ivkovic took the No. 5 match against Anthony Burch by a score of 6-3, 6-2. Tsioumas and Issac Childs went back and forth a bit prior to Tsioumas dispatching his opponent by a score of 6-3, 7-5 (7-5).
The match of the day came from the No. 3 singles spot as
FELIX BAKE and Zane Nelson were paired against one another. Bake dropped the first set 4-6, but quickly rallied to win the second set convincingly 6-2. Bake would ultimately win the super set tiebreaker by a score of 10-4, giving the Hilltoppers a 9-0 victory.
Head Coach Estevam Strecker said of his team's performance, "If we are to be successful this year, we will need to get some wins on the road. It's good to start the conference season off with a road win against a much improved DBU team." He went on to say, "We will celebrate tonight, but my mind is already on the next match Tuesday against a very good Tyler Junior College team."
Just as Strecker said, the Hilltoppers will travel to Waco, Texas Tuesday, as they'll face Tyler Junior College. The doubles portion of the match is set to start at 3:00 p.m.
