RICHMOND, Va. – Spartan seniors
Andres Alcaraz and
Ignacio Guevel each picked up wins in singles during the Norfolk State men's tennis team's 5-2 loss to Richmond on Sunday afternoon at Westhampton Courts.
Alcaraz won at No. 2 singles, and Guevel earned the victory at the fifth spot as NSU dropped to 1-3 on the year. Richmond (5-2) won all three doubles matches and four of the other singles matches for the victory.
No. 2 singles went to a tiebreaker in the third set after Alcaraz had won the first set 6-4 over Daniel Kliebhan. He came back to win the second set, 7-5, but Alcaraz had an answer in the third, winning 7-6, including 7-3 in the tiebreaker.
Guevel won 6-2 in his first set over Campbell Erwin at No. 5 singles, only for Campbell to come back and sweep the second set, 6-0. A 7-2 third-set tiebreaker allowed Guevel to win the set, 7-6.
"We had a lot of close matches that could have went either way today," said head coach
Larry Holmes. "Credit Ignacio and Andres for the wins today. Those guys fought and competed to the last point, and as a coach that's all you can ask for. We just have to improve on playing the key points better. That's what made the difference."
Freshman
Ivan Ivars went three sets in his match at No. 4 singles against John Walsh, losing the first and third set, 6-4 and 6-3, while taking the middle set, 7-6. Fellow frosh
Santiago Rendon dropped a hard-fought battle as well at the third position, 7-5, 6-4 to Alex Wernink.
Junior
Federico Rebecchini fell at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-3, to Matt Fernandez, while sophomore
Ibrahim Abbas lost 6-0, 6-0 to Sebastian Miano at the sixth position.
In doubles, Rebecchini and Guevel almost came away with the win at the top spot, but the duo ultimately came up short, 7-6, including 8-6 in the tiebreaker, to Kliebhan and Josh Keitelman. Alcaraz and Rendon dropped a 6-4 decision to Fernandez and Wernink at the No. 2 position, and Ivars and Abbas were defeated by Walsh and Campbell at No. 3 doubles, 6-1.
NSU will next play at Longwood on Friday at 2 p.m. before returning home next Sunday to host Old Dominion at 1 p.m. at the NSU Tennis Complex.
