Kansas City, Mo. – The McPherson College tennis teams went on the road Sunday to take on NCAA DII Rockhust University at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City. The Bulldogs came home with a split, the men winning 4-3 and the women fighting hard but falling short 5-2.
For the women, it was a dog fight from the beginning of the match. They ended up being swept in all three doubles matches, but each match was decided by a single service break, and at no. 1 it came down to a tie breaker to decide the winner.
Down 1-0 heading into the singles portion of the dual, the Bulldogs continued to compete. They lost two close matches at no. 1 and no. 2, but picked up wins by Vanessa Mundo at no. 4, and Kendra Maples at no. 6. Mundo's match at no. 4 was a marathon where she won in a third set tie break 18-16. Maples also went to third set tie break, but she was able to get the win 11-9.
Below are the women's scores.
|
Name
|
Singles
|
Record
|
|
Polina Khoroshevskaya
|
No. 1
|
L, 6-4, 6-2
|
|
Erica Paradise
|
No. 2
|
L, 6-4, 6-3
|
|
Grace Maxey
|
No. 3
|
L, 6-0, 6-1
|
|
Vanessa Mundo
|
No. 4
|
W, 6-4, 4-6, 18-16
|
|
Kayla Ortiz
|
No. 5
|
L, 6-3, 6-1
|
|
Kendra Maples
|
No. 6
|
W, 1-6, 7-6, 11-9
|
|
|
Doubles
|
|
|
Khoroshevskaya / Ortiz
|
No. 1
|
L, 7-6
|
|
Paradise / Mundo
|
No. 2
|
L, 6-3
|
|
Maples / Maxey
|
No. 3
|
L, 6-4
|
On the men's side, the Bulldogs picked up the doubles point by winning matches on the no. 2 and 3 lines. Martin Millos and Oscar Brouwer won easily at no. 2, 6-1 then Trey Murphy and Daniel Marcano secured the point with a 6-3 win at no. 3.
With a 1-0 lead entering singles play, the Bulldogs needed to win half of the matches to pick up the dual win. The Bulldogs did just that, winning on the no. 1, no. 5, and no. 6 lines. Michael Beltran picked up a huge win at no. 1, winning in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. Marcano was dominant at no. 5, winning in straight sets 6-1, 7-5. The Hawks knotted the match at 3-3 with one match still on court, the no. 6 line. Zhiyuan Wei, who had a chance to clinch for the Bulldogs against Barton County in the previous dual, but lost a heart breaker in three sets, would get a chance to redeem himself. The match would go the distance again, but this time Wei rose to the occasion and won a marathon match 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
Below are the men's scores.
|
Name
|
Singles
|
Record
|
|
Michael Beltran
|
No. 1
|
W, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
|
|
Martin Millos
|
No. 2
|
L, 6-2, 6-3
|
|
Oscar Brouwer
|
No. 3
|
L, 6-3, 6-1
|
|
Jakob Komel
|
No. 4
|
L, 6-0, 6-2
|
|
Daniel Marcano
|
No. 5
|
W, 6-1, 7-5
|
|
Zhiyuan Wei
|
No. 6
|
W, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
|
|
|
Doubles
|
|
|
Jakob Komel / Beltran
|
No. 1
|
L, 6-4
|
|
Brouwer / Millos
|
No. 2
|
W, 6-1
|
|
Murphy / Marcano
|
No. 3
|
W, 6-3
|
Coach President was pleased with the performances from both teams saying, "Very proud of our playing today. The ladies had a tough day at the office however they kept the positive energy and kept fighting right through to the end. The men had a big win today taking down the #42 NCAA Division 2 team in the nation. We seem to like to play till that last match! Looking forward the start conference on Thursday!"
With the loss, the Bulldog women fall to 2-2 on the year while the men move to 3-1 with the win. Both teams will open up KCAC play on Thursday, on the road, against Intra-county rival Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan. First serve is scheduled for 10:00 am.
