PHILADELPHIA -- Victories in five of the six singles flights helped Kutztown University men's tennis overcome dropping the doubles point as the Golden Bears remained unbeaten this fall with a 5-2 win at Chestnut Hill on Sunday afternoon.
The three doubles matches were hotly contested but the host Griffins (2-3) managed to squeeze out a 7-5 win from Menno Raeymaekers and Alessio Lefebvre at No. 3 to prevail.
Joaquin Perez (Pachuca, Mexico/Escuela Americana) and
Nikita Safonov (Podolsk, Russia) picked up a win against Mercello Bozzone and Siddarth Malik at No. 2 when the CHC pair retired with the match tied at six games apiece and 5-5 in the tiebreaker.
Kutztown (4-0) quickly erased its deficit as singles got underway. Perez topped Ewan Brown 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 and Safonov defeated Pablo Cervera, who retired after dropping the first set 6-3 and trailing in the second 3-0, at No. 2.
Henrique Rocha (Jaticua, Brazil/Escola SEB Maceio) and
Dang Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam/) each won super tiebreakers to push the Bears' lead to a 4-1 cushion that couldn't be caught. Rocha came from behind to beat Raeymaekers 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 at No. 3, while Nguyen bounced back from a second set loss to hold off Fillippo Relecom 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 at No. 1.
Linus Vennekold (Laatzen, Germany) handled Arnaud Vangenechten 6-1, 6-4 at No. 6 to secure KU's final point.
"The team once again showed its resiliancy," head coach Pete Smith said. "The doubles point was incredibly close and when it slips away in that fashion, it can often affect the way singles starts. These guys were able to put it behind them and play rock solid from the start in every singles match. It was a real gritty performance."
Chestnut Hill ended the 2023-24 season ranked eighth in the ITA East Region, marking Kutztown's second fall victory over a team that finished last year regionally ranked. The Bears also beat Jefferson last week.
Kutztown is home on Monday afternoon to face Daemen (N.Y.) at 2 p.m.
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