By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Taking a break in its Horizon League slate, the Tennessee Tech tennis team dropped its 2023 non-conference finale with a 4-0 loss at No. 28 Middle Tennessee in the first of three straight road matches over the weekend.
Despite the defeat against Tech's fifth nationally ranked opponent this season, the Golden Eagles (4-12, 4-1 HL) saw a powerful punch at the top of the singles lineup, with TTU's top three more than in the mix at the time their respective clashes went unfinished. Mika Beghuas captured a first-set 6-2 victory over No. 76 Stijn Slump in the No. 1 spot and trailed 4-3 in the second set at the time the tangle was called.
Elias Grubert dropped the first set 6-4 to Francisco Rocha and trailed 3-2 in the second set in the No. 2 battle when it checked the unfinished column, while Evzen Holis went toe-to-toe with No. 125 Oskar Brostrom Poulsen in the No. 3 battle before it ultimately went undecided. Holis dropped the first set 6-3, but did manage to hold a 5-4 second-set advantage against the nationally ranked Blue Raider out of Helsingor, Denmark.
The Blue Raiders (17-7) secured all three single matchups toward the bottom of the lineup behind an Ondrej Horak 6-2, 6-2 victory over Pol Masafret in the No. 4 spot, a Marcel Kamrowski 6-1, 6-3 nod against Paulo Ramos Martin in the No. 5 position and a Shu Matsuko 6-2, 6-1 win over Jaime Paquet in the No. 6 affair.
MTSU seized the doubles point as well thanks to wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 tussles. The Blue Raider combination of Pavel Motl and Stijn Slump picked up a 6-2 decision against Evzen Holis and Jaime Paquet in the No. 2 tilt and the tandem of Ondrej Horak and Marcel Kamrowski took home a 6-3 triumph over Mika Berghaus and Pol Masafret in the No. 3 slot.
The Tech tandem of Elias Grubert and Paulo Ramos Martin played to a 4-4 deadlock against the nationally ranked duo of No. 48 Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Francisco Rocha in the top position when the matchup went unfinished.
The Golden Eagles will be right back at it with a critical Horizon League contest on Saturday, Mar. 15 at Belmont. First serve in Nashville pitting the top two team's in the conference's South Division will start at 2 p.m. CT.
Photo by Jim Dillon
