By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team dropped its first of three-straight down in Cajun country, falling 4-2 at the University of Louisiana to open up the weekend. The match featured only singles action and saw the Golden Eagles (2-7) drop four-of-six battles.
No. 51 Eduardo Mena headlined Tech's success, rolling to a straight-set win in the top spot behind a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Vlad Kramarov. With the win, the two-time OVC Player of the Year evened up his spring singles mark to 4-4.
Freshman Gonzalo Garcia was the only other Golden Eagle to claim a win on the day, knocking off Pearse Dolan, 6-4, 6-2, out of the No. 4 position. Garcia's victory continues a strong start to his rookie campaign, bumping his record to 5-4 this spring.
Despite a 6-4 win in the opening set, Wenceslao Albin was unable to hold on out of the No. 2 spot, ultimately falling in three sets to Arthur Libaurd in one of three Ragin Cajun (10-5) three-set victories.
Arthur Justo saw a similar fate with a three-set loss in the No. 6 slot to Jamie Fraser, despite evening the bout with a 7-5 win in the second set after dropping the opener, 7-5. Fraser would go on to claim the finale, 6-4.
Marc Mila seized the first set, 6-3, in his battle with Elio Lago in the No. 3 position, but would end up falling 6-2 in the second set and 6-4 in the third to drop the point. Riku Kubota was tripped up in straight-sets with a 6-1, 6-2 loss to Nico Sojka.
The Golden Eagles will set their sights on a Saturday doubleheader in Lafayette, first tangling with East Carolina at 9 a.m. CT, before squaring off with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 3 p.m.
Photo by Tony Marable