NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's tennis team wrapped up the fall season battling some big-name opponents from around the south at the Commodore Scramble held at Vanderbilt's Currey Tennis Center.
Junior Othon Lima and freshman Eduardo Mena both managed to bring home a pair of singles victories against the scramble.
Lima struggled early on, falling to Vanderbilt's Tate Allwardt in his first match on Friday morning, losing in straight sets (6-2, 6-2) and losing again in the afternoon to Belmont's Robin Demasse. Lima forced and won a tiebreaker in his first set against Demasse, but went on to drop the following two (6-7[5], 6-1, 6-1). Lima would caught fire on Saturday, winning his match against Belmont's Caio Niel (6-1, 6-2) and then pairing up with Gagan Jain in a doubles match to beat Belmont's combination of Cedric Dujacquier and Robin Demasse (8-3).
Lima would finish the weekend with a win on Sunday when he took on Dujacquier, by himself this time, winning in straight sets (6-1, 6-1). He and Alex Arovin would fall to Middle Tennessee's duo of Gian Issa and Yannick Born when they faced them in their final doubles match of the weekend (8-6).
The other singles standout for the Golden Eagles was Eduardo Mena. Mena came in hot winning both of his matches on Friday. Mena's first action came against Alabama's Sam Edwards, winning in straight sets (6-1, 6-4). Mena continued to stay strong as he bested the aforementioned Caio Niel (6-4, 6-1).
On Saturday, Mena would pair up with Arovin, but fall, in a hard-fought match, to a stout Vanderbilt doubles team in Kris Yee and Jeff Offerdahl (8-6). On Sunday, Mena would taste defeat once more when he squared off against the tournament's singles champion, Kris Yee. Mena went on to lose in straight sets (6-2, 6-1), but he would finish the weekend on a high note when he paired up with Jain to defeat MTSU's pairing of Robin Riethmueller and Miguel Negre Fernandez despite them forcing a tiebreaker (8-7[5]).
Though he went without seeing a win in his singles matches, Gagan Jain failed to record a doubles loss this weekend, going 2-0 at the tournament.
Lastly, junior Alex Arovin was only able to record one win over the course of five matches. He eventually withdrew from the singles portion of the tournament on Sunday.
The Golden Eagles will return to action in the New Year, when they will start up conference play and team matches.