Men's Tennis | 2/24/2014 3:25:00 PM
McPherson, Kan. - The McPherson College men's tennis team split its weekend matches with Emporia State and Barton County. The Bulldogs lost a heart-breaker against Emporia 4-5 but turned around and mauled Barton County 9-0.
On Saturday against ESU the change from playing indoors to outdoors may have taken a mental toll on the Bulldogs. MC could not get anything going on any of its doubles matches finding themselves trailing on all three doubles positions and just misfiring on routine execution plays. The top duo of Rafael Bulnes and Joan Marc Fajula Rodriguez found themselves with a very disappointing early season loss 1-8. Teammates Sean De Young and Allen Daramwan did not do any better as they fell quickly as well 2-8 giving Emporia State a 2-0 lead over the Bulldogs. The Hornets were looking to make it 3-0 as they had a huge lead against the Bulldog's number three pair of Michael Irwin and Connor Schafer 3-6. The Mac pair dug in though and fought all the way back to force the tie-breaker. In the tie-breaker the 'Dogs held a very slim lead until they were able to pull away at the end to salvage their point and keep the Bulldogs in the match, trailing 2-1.
With a 1-2 deficit after doubles, McPherson began to work quickly in singles. Freshman Fajula Rodriguez made up for his loss in doubles by not giving many opportunities to his opponent winning 6-1, 6-1. Top Bulldog Bulnes did the same, gaining a quick first set victory 6-1 then overtaking his opponent late in the second set to secure the point for the Bulldogs 6-4, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. The Hornets would strike right back with a pair of victories of their own at the number three and four singles positions. Senior De Young responded with a dominant win over his opponent to tie up the score at 4-4. The match came down to Irwin; the junior lost a little focus in the first set dropping it 3-6 but rebounded quickly to grab the second set 6-2 to force a tie-breaker. In the match tie-break Irwin held a slim lead until his opponent was able to come from behind to steal the victory from the Bulldogs.
"This was a tough loss for us to a much improved Emporia State team," said Coach Benito. "We competed well in singles but our failing was in the doubles. We can learn from this and make the adjustments so that we won't make those errors again down the stretch. I am very impressed with Michael Irwin as he showed a lot of composure coming through for us in doubles and then almost pulling it out for us in singles."
On Sunday the Bulldogs took out their frustrations against Barton County College. The Bulldogs stayed in control of all the matches except at the number one singles position. The feshman Fajula Rodriguez stayed steady in the first set but then suffered a point penalty to drop the second set; he stayed tough and cruised to a 10-4 victory in the third set tie-break.
Up next for the Bulldogs is Newman University at McPherson HS on Saturday, March 1 beginning at 10am.
Final Score:
McPherson College 4, Emporia State University 5
Doubles:
1) Davids/Butron (ESU) def. Bulnes/Fajula Rodriguez (Mac) 8-1
2) Prudencio/Smith (ESU) def. De Young/Darmawan (Mac) 8-2
3) Irwin/Schafer (Mac) def. Hays/Connor (ESU) 9-8(5)
Singles:
1) Rafael Bulnes (Mac) def. Diego Prudencio (ESU) 6-1, 6-4
2) Joan-Marc Fajula Rodriguez (Mac) def. Jonathan Butran (ESU) 6-1, 6-1
3) Andrew Davids (ESU) def. Allen Darmawan (Mac) 6-4, 6-2
4) Keenan Smith (ESU) def. Jaime Roman (Mac) 6-0, 7-6(1)
5) Sean De Young (Mac) def. Farhan Sadique (ESU) 6-0, 6-1
6) Payton Hays (ESU) def. Michael Irwin (Mac) 6-3, 2-6, 10-8
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Final Score:
McPherson College 9, Barton County Community College 0
Doubles:
1) Bulnes/Fajula Rodriguez (Mac) def. Martinez/Johnson (BCCC) 8-6
2) Irwin/Schafer (Mac) def. Jacobs/Moyers (BCCC) 8-4
3) De Young/Stewart (Mac) def. Bhntain/Neeland (BCCC) 8-2
Singles:
1) Joan-Marc Fajula Rodriguez (Mac) def. Alvaro Martinez (BCCC) 6-3, 4-6, 10-4
2) Sean De Young (Mac) def. Jeret Johnson (BCCC) 6-4, 6-2
3) Allen Darmawan (Mac) def. Nicholas Moyers (BCCC) 6-0, 6-2
4) Jaime Roman (Mac) def. Austin Jacobs (BCCC) 6-3, 6-0
5) Michael Irwin (Mac) def. Chase Buntain (BCCC) 6-0, 6-0
6) Jordan Stewart (Mac) def. Adam Neeland (BCCC) 6-4, 6-0
