FLORENCE, S.C. (Feb. 9) – Facing a nationally-ranked opponent at a neutral site, the Trojans suffered a narrowly 4-3 loss versus No. 13 Lander in a non-conference match on Friday afternoon at the Dr. Eddie Floyd Florence Tennis Center.
With the loss, the University of Mount Olive men's tennis program falls to 0-1 this season and will return to the court tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 10, for a regional contest versus Lenoir-Rhyne. Meanwhile, Lander improves to 3-0 overall after being picked third in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) following a 17th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
In the doubles session, the Bearcats clinched a point after claiming victories in the second and third positions. In the first slot, senior
Guilherme Zotin de Oliveira and freshman
Kristoffer Dalbak upset the No. 11 nationally-ranked doubles team of Hugo Regner and Matthew De Groot by a 6-3 margin. In the second doubles, sophomore
Niklas Gruenefeldt and senior
Adam Ibrahim fell by a 4-6 decision against No. 24 ranked Nick Beamish and Markus Sorensen. Freshman Lenn Hoffman and sophomore
Bram Poel suffered a 4-6 loss in the third slot versus Ambroise Marchand and Emilien Baradel.
Lander escaped with a 4-3 victory on Friday after the sides split the six singles with the deciding match going three sets. de Oliveira was dealt a 2-6, 3-6 defeat versus No. 19 ranked Regner in the first position. Gruenefeldt rebounded with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Marchand at second singles, while Dalbak fell by a 6-3, 5-7, 6-7 (2-7) decision against Beamish in the third spot, which was the final match to finish. Poel registered a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win in the fourth position over Sorensen, and sophomore
Kabir Chhabria completed a comeback victory against De Groot by a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 margin in the fifth slot. In the sixth singles, Ibrahim suffered a 3-6, 3-6 loss to Naoui Mouad.
The Trojans return to non-conference play tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 10, when they host Lenoir-Rhyne at John Neal Walker Tennis Center, starting at 2 p.m.
