COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team swept the visiting SIU Edwardsville, 5-0 on Saturday afternoon to move to 7-12 overall, and 5-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The Golden Eagles opened the match earning the doubles point in gritty fashion.
Following a split in the No. 1 and 2 matches, it all came down to the No. 3 match, where Freshmen Eduardo Mena and Jorge Alfonzo teamed up to take on the Cougar's Tristan Houle and Patrick Gaffigan. Down 5-1, the pair of rookies stepped up, fighting back to seal the doubles point with a 8-7 win, following a tight 9-7 tie-breaker win.
Tech earned its first win in doubles action when junior Alex Arovin and sophomore Alberto Esteban topped Marten Jonsson and Nico Kuehn, 8-2. SIUE's Stephen Washuta and Nicolas Vincent bested Tech's Alvaro Cintas and Artem Tarasov, 8-3.
Following the long and dramatic doubles action, Tech went 1, 2, and 3, in the top three matches. Arovin finished his match up first, topping Vincent 6-1, 6-4, in the No. 1 spot.
Mena took down Jonsson for his 10th consecutive win. The freshman from Madrid, Spain won 6-1, 6-4, and moved to 14-4 overall, and 5-0 in OVC play. Esteban followed with a win over Houle, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 3 spot.
The No. 4 match was the last to wrap up. Cintas opened with a 2-6 loss to Jacob Perkins, but rebounded to take the next set 6-4. In the tie-breaker, Cintas won 10-7.
Due to Tech having clinched the match and a long trip home for the visiting Cougars, the two teams decided to leave the No. 5 and 6 matches unfinished.
The Golden Eagles host their final home game of the season on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. The Jacksonville State Gamecocks come to town with a 9-10, 4-2 OVC record.
