INDIANAPOLIS - The UIndy men's tennis team celebrated Senior Day with not one, but two wins Saturday, taking down NAIA Indiana Tech 5-2Â in the morning before downing conference-rival McKendree in the afternoon with a 7-0 sweep.
Prior to the McKendree match, UIndy recognized its senior class of Agustin Gascia, Renato Lima and Maximilian Witthaus as well as second-year graduate assistant Kai Lemke.
INDIANA TECH
Kicking off bright and early at 10 a.m., the Hounds would etch yet another doubles point on the season. Seniors Gascia and Lima would wrap up their match first with a confident 6-3 win. However the Warriors (10-2) would fight back to secure a win in the No. 1 doubles spot as they would take down the pair of Tom Zeuch and freshman Yoann Viel, 6-3. But the Hounds would outlast their in-state competitors with a win by sophomore Nikolaj Talimaa and freshman Pedro Franca, 7-6.
It would be more of the same in singles as the Hounds went on to take four of the six matches. In the No. 1 slot, Zeuch would continue to find singles success, winning in straight sets 6-1, 7-6. He would be followed up by his doubles partner Viel, who would also win in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.
Talimaa would fight to hang on in a super tiebreaker but eventually fell 6-7, 6-4, 8-10 to the 41st-ranked player in the NAIA. Fellow sophomore Jason Gerweck would avenge Talimaa however with a win of his own 6-1, 6-3. Freshman Emilien Baradel would sit in the No. 5 singles slot but would lose to his Warrior adversary 2-6, 3-6. Finally rounding out the first match of the doubleheader, Franca would win his match-up 6-1, 6-2.
McKENDREE
With the rain forcing them back on the courts of the UIndy Tennis Center, the Hounds returned to GLVC play to battle the visiting McKendree Bearcats, who entered the matchup at 4-4. The lineup for the Hounds would remain unchanged in doubles as Talimaa and Franca in the No. 3 spot would find a victory yet again, winning convincingly 6-2. The Gascia and Lima would have a battle on their hands in the No. 2 spot however, with it coming down to the wire with the seniors pulling out a victory 7-6 with a six-point tiebreaker. Viel and Zeuch would continue the consistent play that they have had over the past month with a 7-5 win.
Viel would carry that momentum into singles action as he would wrap up in just two sets with another victory on the day 6-4, 6-3. Like clockwork the Hounds would continue to find success as Zeuch downed the Bearcats' No. 1 Leonardo Frederico in the spot 6-3, 6-2.
Lima, rhe No. 24 singles player in DII, would follow suit with a straight sets win, 6-4, 7-5. Witthaus would wrap up his match next with a two set win of his own 6-4, 6-4.
Sophomore Cristian Morales would keep the sweep alive with a two set win 6-2, 6-1. And finally with all of his teammates and coaches cheering him on, in the No. 4 slot was Talimaa. He would fall early with a 3-6 first set loss. He would not lose confidence however, as he would dominate set two for a 6-3. The final match of the day would come down to a super tiebreaker as Talimaa and McKendree's Julappagari Anurag Reddy would go back and forth, but with a roar from him and his teammates, Talimaa would put the nail in the coffin with a 10-6 super tiebreaker win.
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HOUND BYTES
Head Coach Malik Tabet on the push towards the postseason...
"We've worked on the few things that need to improve, now our sight is towards the conference championship, now it's time to start generating that energy. We've had a long stretch of very tough matches, not only during (ITA) nationals but during spring break… now it's time for us to slow it down a little bit and hopefully gain that high energy to bring to the conference championship."Â
Tabet on the recent matches...
"We've had three difficult matches… it's nice to see how they (the men's team) can dig in. We played a tough match yesterday in some very windy conditions and players played tough, and this morning the match with Tech, I thought it was a good match, very competitive and I really liked my players' attitude. We're trying to rotate players to make sure everyone plays."
UP NEXT
The Hounds will have another trip on their hands as they will take the journey out to St. Louis to face off with another GLVC opponent in the Maryville Saints on Friday April, 16.
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