KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Despite putting up a number of tough battles in both singles and doubles, the Kutztown University men's tennis team was unable to knock off perennial PSAC power Mercyhurst on Senior Day, Saturday. The Lakers swept doubles and went on to a 6-1 victory at the Keystone Courts.
Emmitt Robinson (Ingersoll, Ontario/Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute) and
Justin Gincauskas (Mississauga, Ontario/Cawthra Park Secondary) were the top performing tandem for KU (4-8, 1-3 PSAC), capturing four games off Sviatoslav Koliadynski and Juan Carlos Hernandez Briones at No. 2 doubles in a 6-4 defeat. The Bears' top pair of
Joaquin Perez (Pachuca, Mexico/Escuela Americana) and
Sebastian Arizpe (Puebla, Mexico/Colegio Humboldt de Puebla) took three games in a 6-3 top flight loss against the Lakers' (12-4, 4-1 PSAC) Danylo Rekun and Colm Schultz.
Leading 1-0 heading to singles, Mercyhurst moved quickly to secure the remaining three points necessary to win the match.
Ben Davis topped Perez 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 before Schultz defeated Robinson 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4. Lukas Cabue Valverde held off
Dang Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 to make it 4-0.
Kutztown's lone point came from No. 1
Gonzalo Barcelo (San Pedro, Argentina/Nuestra Senora del Socorro), who has been battling an injury of late. Barcelo, one of five seniors honored on Saturday, outlasted Rekun in a super tiebreaker 6-3, 1-6, 10-5.
Fellow senior
Neal Devkaran (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI Catholic) rallied from a set down at No. 6 to force a super tiebreaker with Koliadynski but came up two points shy at the end 6-2, 6-7 (4), 10-8. Rocha won four games in each set against Mykhailo Polishchuk at No. 5 but fell by 6-4, 6-4 scores.
Seniors honored during Saturday's match included Arizpe, Barcelo, Devkaran, Gincauskas and
Ethan Moyer (Wernersville, Pa./Conrad Weiser).
The Golden Bears will travel to West Chester on Monday, April 22, at 2 p.m.
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