CLINTON, S.C. – The Lee Flames tennis team dropped an exhibition match at Division I Presbyterian College on Saturday afternoon, 6-1.
Presbyterian rolled out to an early lead in the doubles competition. Daniel Prata and Igor Schattan started the doubles with 6-0 loss to Daniel Stenger and Jamie Castillo-Lopez. Boyd Blackburn and Bruno Medeiros would lose 6-1 to Elias Svensson to give the doubles point for Presbyterian.
In Division I one doubles point is awarded to whoever wins two out of the three matches. To round out doubles Rhys Milne and Jake Okines would drop the match 6-2 to Alexander Lykou and Brandon Mills.
In the singles matches Prata pulled out the lone victory for the Flames (7-6 (4), 6-3) over Svensson.
"Daniel typified our effort today. He was down early and found a way to come back and win for his team," said Head Coach Patric Hynes.
"They have a good team and they play the right way. This kind of match was good for us to play because it showed us what we need to improve. I started a little bit flat, but I saw my teammates fighting and it pushed me up. It's all about being competitive on every point," said Prata.
Milne dropped the one seed match in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 to Lykon. Okines lost 6-1, 6-3 to Mills at No. 2. Schattan was the only other Flame able to take a set from the Bluehose. After dropping the first set 4-6 to Castillo-Lopez, Schattan would win the second set 6-0, before dropping the tie breaker 10-4. Mederios lost in straight sets to Stenger 6-3, 6-1 and Blackburn would lose to Will Baird 6-3, 6-4.
Coach Hynes was pleased with the way his men battled in the match, "I thought our guys played great today. They ambushed us a bit in doubles, but we never stopped trying. We showed great effort the whole day and I'm proud of them."
The Flames continue their road trip on Saturday as they head to Jefferson City to take on Carson Newman before Lee returns for their first home match of the year where the Flames will take on Gadsden State in an exhibition on Feb. 16 with the first serve scheduled at 2 p.m.
