No. 17 Tennessee Edges Out No. 72 @OspreyMTEN

Saturday, January 17

Knoxville, Tenn.

10:00 a.m.

University of North Florida

Tennessee

Photo by: Todd Drexler

1/17/2015 5:21:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 72 University of North Florida men's tennis fell in a closely contested 5-2 match to No. 17 Tennessee on Saturday during the second day of the Tennessee Spring Invitational held at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.

"Today's loss was a heartbreaker for the guys," said head coach Mark Finnegan. "They played with great heart and fight and it's really tough to come up just this short. However, as a team, we now know that we can compete with any team in the nation if we keep improving every day. Tennessee is a well-coached and disciplined tennis team who will have a phenomenal season."

Tennessee edged out the Ospreys to take the doubles point. UNF secured the first doubles victory as Caio Gomes and Yannick Zuern posted a 6-3 win over Luis Valero and Igor Smelyanski at No. 2 doubles. On the No. 1 court, No. 2 Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese won a 6-4 match against No. 28 Jack Findel-Hawkins and Norbert Nemcsek. The Vols won the doubles point in tie-break fashion on the No. 3 court with Andrew Dromsky and Jack Schipanski squeaking past Zach Goldberg and Lasse Muscheites 7-6 (4).

UNF found itself trailing 3-0 as Tennessee captured the first two singles matches. Smelyanski posted a 6-2, 6-1 win against Gomes at No. 2 singles, while Nemcsek fell 6-3, 6-4 to Valero at No. 3 singles.

The Ospreys stayed alive with two singles victories. Julian Bradley took a 6-2, 6-2 triumph against Jess Jones at No. 6 singles. At the No. 5 spot, Muscheites held on for a 6-0, 7-6 (3) victory against Bartosz Sawicki as Tennessee held a 3-2 advantage in the match.

The Vols won the match with a No. 1 singles victory. No. 72 Findel-Hawkins was unable to hold off No. 16 Libietis in a 6-4, 7-6 (6) loss. Meanwhile, on the No. 4 court, Zuern could not comeback against Schipanski and fell 6-1, 6-7 (8), 1-0 (11-9).

UNF completes play at the Tennessee Spring Invitational on Sunday against Southern Illinois. Match time is set for 11:30 a.m.

Match Results
No. 17 Tennessee 5, No. 72 UNF 2
Singles Competition:
No. 1 – #16 Mikelis Libietis (UT) def. #72 Jack Findel-Hawkins (UNF) 6-4, 7-6 (6)
No. 2 – Igor Smelyanski (UT) def. Caio Gomes (UNF) 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 – Luis Valero (UT) def. Norbert Nemcsek (UNF) 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 – Jack Schipanski (UT) def. Yannick Zuern (UNF) 6-1, 6-7 (8), 1-0 (9)
No. 5 – Lasse Muscheites (UNF) def. Bartosz Sawicki (UT) 6-0, 7-6 (3)
No. 6 – Julian Bradley (UNF) def. Jess Jones (UT) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles Competition:
No. 1 – #2 Mikleis Libietis/Hunter Reese (UT) def. #72 Jack Findel-Hawkins/Norbert Nemcsek (UNF) 6-4
No. 2 – Caio Gomes/Yannick Zuern (UNF) def. Luis Valero/Igor Smelyanski (UT) 6-3
No. 3 – Andrew Dromsky/Jack Schipanski (UT) def. Zach Goldberg/Lasse Muscheites (UNF) 7-6 (4)

Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3); Singles (2, 3, 6, 5, 1, 4)