Photo by Junior Silva
McPherson, Kan. – A day after picking up their first dual wins of the season, the McPherson College men's and women's tennis teams were back on the court Saturday morning, hosting the Texas A&M University – Texarkana Eagles at the Bulldog Tennis Center. The Eagles were a step up in competition level from the night before against John Brown, and the Bulldogs knew they would be in for a stiffer test. Both Bulldog teams rose to the occasion and came out on top by a score of 5-2.
On the women's side, the Eagles had only five healthy bodies available for the match which mean they would automatically surrender one of the doubles matches, and a point in the singles portion of the dual. The Bulldogs still needed to win at least one of the two doubles matches to secure the doubles point and then two of the five singles matches to win the dual.
The Bulldogs' no. 1 team of Polina Khorevskaya and Kayla Oritz lost a hard fought match 6-4 leaving the doubles point to the fate of Grace Maxey and Kendra Maples, who normally play on the no. 3 line, but were moved up to the no. 2 line for this match. They responded in a big way winning their match in a tiebreak 7-6 (7-4), securing the doubles point and giving the team a 2-0 lead as the singles matches were put on court.
In the singles matches, the Eagles were strong at the top picking up two points with wins at the no. 1 and no. 2 lines. The Bulldogs however, dominated the bottom of the line up winning the other three matches on court to secure the 5-2 win.
Below are the women's scores.
|
Name
|
Singles
|
Record
|
|
Polina Khoroshevskaya
|
No. 1
|
L, 7-5, 6-4
|
|
Erica Paradise
|
No. 2
|
L, 7-5, 2-6, 10-8
|
|
Grace Maxey
|
No. 3
|
W, 6-4, 6-2
|
|
Vanessa Mundo
|
No. 4
|
W, 2-6, 6-2, 10-8
|
|
Kayla Ortiz
|
No. 5
|
W, 6-1, 6-2
|
|
Kendra Maples
|
No. 6
|
W, forfeit
|
|
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|
Doubles
|
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|
|
Khoroshevskaya / Ortiz
|
No. 1
|
L, 6-4
|
|
Maples / Maxey
|
No. 2
|
W, 7-6 (4)
|
|
Paradise / Mundo
|
No. 3
|
W, forfeit
|
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On the men's side, the Bulldogs picked up the doubles point by winning matches on the no. 2 and 3 lines. Trey Murphy and Daniel Marcano got the first win at no. 3, 6-4 then Martin Millos and his partner Oscar Brouwer secure the point winning a thriller at no. 2, 7-6 (3).
In singles, the Eagles came back and picked up two points winning on the no. 1 and no. 3 lines, but Millos picked up a key win at no. 2, and Marcano came back from a set down in his match at no. 5 to win 10-6 in a super tiebreaker, to put the Bulldogs up 3-2 with two matches left on court. Murphy dominated his match at no. 4 and Zhiyuan Wei got a big win at no. 6 to finish of the Eagles 5-2.
Below are the men's scores.
|
Name
|
Singles
|
Record
|
|
Michael Beltran
|
No. 1
|
L, 6-3, 6-3
|
|
Martin Millos
|
No. 2
|
W, 6-4, 6-1
|
|
Oscar Brouwer
|
No. 3
|
L, 6-4, 1-6, 10-5
|
|
Trey Murphy
|
No. 4
|
W, 6-0, 6-1
|
|
Daniel Marcano
|
No. 5
|
W, 3-6, 6-4, 10-6
|
|
Zhiyuan Wei
|
No. 6
|
W, 6-1, 6-4
|
|
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|
Doubles
|
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|
|
Jakob Komel / Beltran
|
No. 1
|
L, 6-1
|
|
Brouwer / Millos
|
No. 2
|
W, 7-6 (3)
|
|
Murphy / Marcano
|
No. 3
|
W, 6-4
|
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Later in the afternoon on Saturday afternoon, the men took the court again in an exhibition match with Pratt Community College. Battling extremely windy conditions, the Bulldogs dispatched the Beavers 4-1. They took the doubles point by winning again at no. 2 and no. 3.
 Leading 1-0 after doubles, the Bulldogs kept the pressure on. Because of the conditions, it was decided that the match would be played to decision, meaning that once one team had secured enough points to decide the outcome of the dual the rest of the matches would be left unfinished. The Bulldogs quickly took care of business picking up wins from Michael Beltran at no. 1, Millos at no. 2, and Davis Alksnis recorded his first collegiate victory, winning 6-0, 6-4 on the no. 6 line. The Beavers picked up one singles win at no. 4 but it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs rolled to a 4-1 win.
 Coach President commented on the Bulldogs' wins over TAMUT saying, "I am proud of how we competed today especially in the 30mph winds! It's a great feeling to get back to back wins at home! We took the doubles point on both sides and was out played a bit at the top of the singles line ups. But the due to how deep we are as a team the bottom was very solid and secured the win for the Bulldogs!"
 For the men against Pratt, Coach President added, "Amidst the weather conditions during our match with Pratt, we decided to play this match till a winner was decided. Our men were able to pull through and capture their third win of the weekend! I want to send a special congratulations to our freshman Davis A. For capturing his first collegiate win at the Number 6 spot!"
 Both Bulldog teams are now 2-1 on the season. They will be back on the court Wednesday, March 16 at 3:00 pm hosting the Barton Community College Cougars in an exhibition match at the Bulldog Tennis Center.
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