By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team's home opener swung Radford's way, as the Highlanders came to Cookeville and left with a 6-1 win Tuesday afternoon at Tech Tennis Courts.
Playing shorthanded with five available Golden Eagles in the fold, Tech (0-10) was forced to forfeit the No. 6 singles matchup as well the No. 3 doubles meeting that helped Radford seize the tandem point. TTU's No. 2 doubles duo of Pol Masafret and Mika Berghaus was able to secure a 7-6 win over Aditya Balsekar and Guilherme Severin, but with the Highlanders (4-4) capturing the top tangle behind a Demis Taramonlis and Konstantinos Raptis 6-4 nod against Elias Grubert and Paulo Ramos Martin, RU was able to take the doubles point.
Berghaus continued a successful afternoon into singles action, seizing the No. 1 bout thanks to a 6-1, 5-7, 13-11 triumph over Taramonlis to register Tech's lone point of the day. Berghaus' battle was one of two solo clashes that needed over two sets to complete, with Ramos Martin narrowly falling 4-6, 7-5, 9-11 to Severin in the No. 4 get-together.
The other three meetings concluded in straight sets, as Demis Balsekar topped Elias Grubert, 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 2 slot, while Konstantinos Raptis registered a 6-3, 6-2 win over Pol Masafret in the No. 3 affair and Robert Hagen notched a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Jaime Paquet in the No. 5 spot.
The Golden Eagles will now push toward the beginning of their Horizon League slate, with a Mar. 18 matchup at Lindenwood on the books for Tech's first conference contest. First serve in Saint Charles, Mo. is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
