Men's Tennis | 3/31/2021 10:45:00 PM
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College tennis teams hosted the Ottawa University Braves on Wednesday afternoon at the Bulldog Tennis Center. The Bulldogs and Braves split the two duals, with the Ottawa women winning a nail biter 4-3, and the Bulldog men running away with the victory 6-1.
The Bulldog women started out strong, taking two of the three doubles matches and securing the doubles point. The Bulldogs went into the singles matches leading 1-0 and needing three wins to secure the match win. Coach Allen knew the Braves were strong at the top of the lineup, with NCAA D1 bounce back Patricia Eftenoui, who played last season at Fairleigh Dickinson University, playing at #1, but were weaker in the lower half of the lineup.
The Braves picked up three points, winning at #1, #2, and #3 to take a 3-1 lead. Going into the match the Bulldogs were confident they would win at #5 and #6. Kayla Ortiz and Kendra Maples proved that to be true, winning 6-0, 6-0 at both spots. Tied at 3-3, the match came down to the #4 singles line. Grace Maxey played a great match, but came up a little short falling to Pryanshi Sharma 6-3, 6-2.
Coach Allen commented on the loss saying, "We got the pressure right away getting the doubles point, but give it to Ottawa they won the important points in the singles matches. I know it was a tough loss but we will learn from it and come back stronger."
Below are the scores
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Doubles
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#1
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Paradise / Khoroshevskaya
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W, 6-4
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#2
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Ortiz / Maxey
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L, 6-4
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#3
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Mundo / Maples
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W, 6-0
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Singles
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#1
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Vanessa Mundo
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L, 6-1, 7-5
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#2
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Erica Paradise
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L, 6-1, 6-4
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#3
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Polina Khoroshevskya
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L, 6-3, 6-3
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#4
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Grace Maxey
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W, 6-3, 6-2
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#5
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Kayla Ortiz
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W, 6-0, 6-0
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#6
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Kendra Maples
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W, 6-0, 6-0
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For the men, the Braves came into the match with a 2-0 record in KCAC play and fresh off an upset of Southwestern College, who were picked a spot above them in the pre-season polls, last week. The Bulldogs knew the stakes but didn't let the pressure get to them. They came out and set the tone in the doubles portion sweeping all three matches. Jacob Turley and Martin Millos had to come from a break down to win 6-4, and Jakob Komel and Julien Bodin overcame a late run by the Braves at #3 to win 7-5. At #2, senior Nico Wahl, and freshman Michael Beltran were dominant, winning 6-2.
Leading 1-0 after the doubles, the Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas, winning five of the six singles matches and putting the rest of the KCAC on notice winning 6-1. The only loss for the Bulldogs came at #1 where Bodin fell in three sets to Claudio Quinones the reigning KCAC individual champion from the fall.
"We got the start we wanted, kept our foot on the gas the entire way," said Coach Allen. It was a compete group effort and we are looking to continue this for the rest of the KCAC season."
Scores are below.
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Doubles
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#1
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Turley / Millos
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W, 6-4
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#2
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Wahl / Beltran
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W, 6-2
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#3
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Bolin / Komel
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W, 7-5
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Singles
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#1
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Julien Bodin
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L, 2-6, 6-3, 1-6
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#2
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Michael Beltran
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W, 6-0, 6-1
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#3
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Martin Millos
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W, 6-3, 6-0
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#4
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Jacob Turley
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W, 6-4, 6-1
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#5
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Nicolas Wahl
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W, 6-0, 6-1
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#6
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Trey Murphy
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W, 6-2, 6-1
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The atmosphere out at the Bulldog Tennis Center today was fantastic. Having courts on campus, has already made an impact on this season. There were more fans at the matches today than at any other match in recent memory at the high school courts. With the win, the Bulldog men move to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in KCAC play. The loss for the women drops them to 3-2 overall, and 1-1 in the KCAC.
The Bulldogs are back on the court again on Saturday, heading over to Sterling, Kansas to take on the Sterling College Warriors. First serve is slated for 9:00 am.
