Men's Tennis | 3/18/2015 3:25:00 AM
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The 22
nd-ranked St. Edward's Men's Tennis team fell to #5 Armstrong State, 9-0, Tuesday morning at the Northview Tennis Complex.
Armstrong State (10-2) took charge of the match early, winning all three doubles matches. In singles play, the Pirates took straight-set victories at four of the six matches.
At number one singles,
PATRICK CLYNES had a tough task as he went up against the No. 1-ranked player in the nation, Fernando Bogajo. The senior gave the top-ranked player all he could handle. Clynes fell in the first set, but rallied to take the second and force a super-set tiebreaker. Bogajo won the tiebreaker and Clynes narrowly missed out on the upset.
At number four singles,
MAXIMO AGOGLIA took the first set off of Marek Pesicka. After dropping the second set, the two players embarked on a thrilling super-set tiebreaker. Pesicka outlasted Agoglia, 16-14, to make the final team score, 9-0.
"We competed much better today, and at least I felt like the guys played and acted like they belonged on the court," head coach Estevam Strecker said. "We played a very good team and they showed their experience. They played the important points and managed the important moments better than we did. Moving forward we have a very tough stretch ahead and I believe we are tougher and more confident than we were before this trip."
When asked about Clynes and Agoglia's performances, Strecker said. "I am very especially proud of how hard Patrick and Maximo worked and thought today. Patrick was points away from beating the number one player in the country and he played his best match all season. Maximo was the last one to finish and he stayed positive."
He also had this to say about his team: "I challenged the players to define what the identity of this team is. The fact that we competed very hard clearly showed me we are a hard fighting team, and we compete. That speaks volume to me."
The Hilltoppers will be back in action Friday when they host Laredo Community College. First-serve is set for 9 a.m. at the Strohmeyer Varsity Courts. Live stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.
