By Dylan Vazzano, Sports Information Coordinator
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team suffered its first loss of the season Friday evening, falling 4-2 at Chattanooga in the first of three matches in three days over the weekend.
Juniors Eduardo Mena and Marcos Bernardes came through during singles action, accounting for TTU's only two points in the tilt as Tech (1-1) was unable to rally after the Mocs (1-4) captured the doubles point.
UTC's tandem of Lucas Plesky and Simon Bustamante bested Mena and senior Alberto Esteban, 6-4, in the No. 1 spot, while the combo of Michael Birnbaum and Derrick Brown got the better of junior Jorge Alfonzo and sophomore Guillermo Nicolas in the No. 3 slot. The No. 2 battle between Tech's Marcos Bernardes and Carlos Tajes, and UTC's Niklas Gerdes and Nic Wilson did not finish with the score knotted at 5-5.
Mena ran his spring singles record to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 nod in the No. 1 spot, while Bernardes carded his first singles victory of the spring in the No. 3 position behind a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 win against Nic Wilson.
Chattanooga seized the other three singles matchups with a Niklas Gerdes 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Alberto Esteban in the No. 2 slot, a Pablo Lieblli 7-5, 6-2 victory over Marc Mila in the No. 4 spot and a Max Grobbelaar 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Carlos Tajes in the No. 6 position.
Jorge Alfonzo's duel with Simon Bustamante in the No. 5 spot did not finish with each player registering a 7-6 set victory.
Tech will be right back at it Saturday afternoon, clashing with Georgia Southern in a neutral site affair at Chattanooga at noon CT.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
