By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team secured a lid on its non-conference slate with a 4-0 loss to No. 44 Arkansas Friday evening in Knoxville.
Playing in a neutral-site venue at the University of Tennessee, the Golden Eagles (5-13, 1-1 OVC) dropped all three singles bouts that finished, while also falling in two-of-three doubles clashes. The Razorbacks (13-12, 2-7 SEC) jumped on the board early with wins in the top-two tandem spots to clinch the point.
Oscar Mesquida and Adam Sanjurjo collected a 6-2 win over Gonzalo Garcia and Carlos Vicente in the No. 1 doubles position, and Enrique Paya and Maxim Verboven rolled to a 6-0 victory against Riku Kubota and Wenceslao Albin in the No. 2 get-together. The final affair pitting Alex Reco and Jose Alonso against Lucca Silva and Rafael Tosetto did not finish, with Silva and Tosetto leading 3-2.
Tosetto would go on to fight tooth and nail in the No. 1 singles matchup against Mesquida, the No. 60th-ranked player in the country. Mesquida narrowly captured the first set 7-5 and led 2-1 in the second at the time the tilt was called.
Carlos Vicente had a similar showing out of the No. 2 position, falling 7-6 (7-4) in a tightly-contested first set and led 1-0 against Adam Sanjurjo in the second set before the rest of the clash would go unfinished.
The No. 5 battle also went unfinished after Wenceslao Albin was upended 6-4 in the first set by Pedro Alonso, before Albin bounced back with a 2-1 lead in the second set.
Alex Reco registered a 6-0, 6-0 nod over Gonzalo Garcia in the No. 3 position, one of three straight-set wins for the Razorbacks. Enrique Paya secured a 6-1, 6-1 win over Riku Kubota in the No. 4 meeting and Jose Alonso picked up a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Lucca Silva in the No. 6 spot.
Tech will turn its attention back to OVC play with a Sunday gathering at Austin Peay. The match is scheduled to start at noon CT.
Photo by Tony Marable
