Firebirds Surge Past USciences, 7-2
WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team earned a decisive, 7-2 victory over regional foe, USciences on a beautiful Monday afternoon in the nation's capital.
The Firebirds (2-1) won two of three doubles matches and five of six singles matches to claim the win. The Devils fell to 0-2 on the season with today's loss.
In the first completed doubles match of the day, the Firebird freshmen duo of Ander Murillo (Business Management – Mondragon, Spain/Arizmendi Ikastola) and Diego Pinto (Electrical Engineering – Santa Cruz, Bolivia/Franco Bolivia) defeated Bill Bentley and Duncan Henderson, 8-0 at third doubles.
Next, another freshmen duo – Rok Bozic (Psychology – Ljublana, Slovenia/Srednja Ekonomska Sola Roska) and Marco Feligioni (Architecture –Citta di Castello, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Citta di Piero) bested Tajay McLeod and Tanner Kerr, 8-3 at No. 2 doubles. Senior Simon Andersson (Business Management – Ystad, Sweden/Sydskanska Gymnasiet) and freshman Alexis Baguelin (Business Management – Le Houlme, France/Lycee Rey) were outlasted, 8-6 at No. 1 doubles by Steven Galerkin and Jake Sosonkin.
With a 2-1 lead, the Firebirds clinched the match victory with three consecutive singles wins. First in was Andersson, with a straight sets victory over McLeod at third singles. Next, Feligioni won in straight sets over Kerr at No. 5. Murillo earned the match-clinching win as he beat Peter Micu, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4.
At No. 2 singles, Bozic won his 2nd set, 6-1 after dropping the first set 6-4, but he lost the tiebreaker to Sosonkin, 10-6.
Baguelin improved to 2-1 at No. 1 singles with a thrilling, 6-1, 4-6, 15-13 tie-breaker win over Galerkin, and Pinto finished off the match with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Chandat Phan.
The Firebirds have five days rest before travelling to Flushing, NY to compete in the ITA East Regional Championships on Saturday, September 27th.
