By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Despite an early lead following doubles play, the Tennessee Tech tennis team couldn't maintain it's momentum and dropped a 4-2 non-conference dual match to Chattanooga (1-1) Saturday afternoon at the Hixson Racquet Club.

Tech (0-2) returns to action Thursday with two matches in Louisville at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. First, Tech meets Toledo at 8 a.m. CT, then faces a 5 p.m. CT match against No. 48 Louisville.

The Golden Eagles surged to a quick 1-0 lead by taking two doubles matches, with Gagan Jain and Gonzolo Munoz clinching the point. The TTU pair topped Austin Boaz and Gino Delavalle. 6-4, at the No. 3 doubles position.

Veterans Vasily Eremeev and Artem Tarasov paired up at the No. 2 double spot to capture a 6-4 win over Pavels Grigorjevs and Luke Saunders, the first duo to walk off the court.

Chattanooga tied the doubles competition by earning a 6-4 win at the No. 1 position, with John Peavy and Jorge Varon edging past Oleksiy Arovin and Alberto Arovin.

Peacey began the turnaround for the Mocs with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Munoz at the No. 6 singles position to tie the match. The host team went up 2-1 when Grigorjevs walked off the No. 2 court with a 6-5, 6-2 win over Eremeev.

Arovin brought Tech back to even, tying the match at 2-2, when he eased to a 6-2, 6-3 win over Varon in the premier match of the day at No. 1 singles. That point, however, was the last for the Golden Eagles.

Delavelle broke the tie with  6-2, 6-4 win in the No. 4 singles contest and Saunders added the clincher at No.3 with a 6-3, 6-5 victory. The No. 5 match went unfinished in the third set. Tarasov had dropped the first set, 6-5, but appeared ready to win after capturing the second set, 6-3, and building a 4-1 lead in the third.