REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Tennis team put together a good fight in the windy conditions Friday evening falling 4-3 to No. 19 Gustavus Adolphus inside the Verdieck Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs got off to a strong start coming very close to winning the early doubles point. Two of the three matches even went into tiebreakers. However, only the No. 3 team of
Jack Hinkle (Bountiful, UT) and
Mateen Ghafarshad (Claremont, CA) was able to seal the deal with a 7-6 win.
Vitomir Petcov (Portland, OR) and
Marlon Abarca (San Diego, CA) at No. 1 also played a tiebreaker but would get edged 7-6. At No. 2
Sam Parsons (Leamington Spa, England) and
Cooper Whittington (Lake Oswego, OR) would drop 6-3 giving the early point to the Golden Gusties.
Gustavus Adolphus continued to grow their lead to 3-0, winning the first two singles matches coming at No.2 where Abarca fell 6-1, 6-1, then at No. 3 from
Gustavo Marcanth (Redondo Beach, CA) falling 6-3, 6-0.
After that the Bulldogs mounted a comeback. With a lot of energy at No. 6, Whittington put the team on the board cruising past his opponent 6-1, 6-2. Not even a minute later, next to him at No. 4, Hinkle erupted with enthusiasm over his solid 6-1, 6-4 victory. Together Whittington and Hinkle put the Bulldogs back in the running trailing 3-2.
This left two determining matches. Petcov at No.1 was in a grueling battle—his first set lasted the length of some of his teammates entire matches and went into a long tiebreak. However, the tiebreak and match did not go in his favor falling 7-6, 6-1, giving the Golden Gusties the clinching point at 4-2.
William Pullin (Peachtree City, GA) at No. 5 was the last match on. He split sets and had to play out a full third because the match had not been clinched at the time of the split. After winning the first set 6-4 and losing the second 6-3, he breezed through the third winning 6-1. This pulled UR within one at 4-3.
Redlands returns to the court Thursday, March 12 when they host No. 25 Haverford College beginning at 5:00pm.
