The Lee University men's tennis team overcame an early deficit to edge Mississippi College, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at the DeVos Tennis Center. The Flames improved to 10-6 overall and 4-5 in Gulf South Conference action, while the Choctaws dropped to 7-9 (2-7 GSC).
The sixth-ranked doubles team of Joan Valy and Marcos Rocca put MC up 1-0 with an 8-3 defeat of Rhys Milne and Jake Okines. Bruno Medeiros and Jordan Knott beat Petar Damjanovic and Sanders Barrick, 8-3, to even the team score at 1-1. Lucio Menezes and Max Nilges beat Daniel Prata and Igor Schattan, 8-3, to give the Choctaws a 2-1 advantage heading into singles competition.
"It seems like every time we play MC, it's a huge battle," said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. "Today was no different. It's always nice to come back from 2-1 down. Jordan and Bruno were very clean today and took care of business."
Okines opened the singles scoring with a straight-set defeat of Menezes in the second position. Valy, ranked No. 27, put the Choctaws back in front with a win in the No. 1 spot. The Flames and Choctaws would swap blows in the next two completed matches to put the visitors within one point of posting the team win.
"Jake grabbed us a huge win," added Hynes. "He's been so close to breaking through all year and today was his day. That's why he's our captain, he stood up when we really needed it."
Knott downed Ben Jarvis by matching 6-2 set scores to tie the team match at 4-4 with the No. 5 position still in action. Prata held off Nilges to win their opening set, 7-5, but Nilges sent the match to a third set with a 6-4 margin in the second set. Prata outscored Nilges 6-2 in the final set to finish the comeback win and set off a Lee celebration.
"I'm very proud of Daniel for coming through under pressure. It's not easy to be in the 4-4 match and he did a great job keeping his nerve out there," praised Hynes.
The Flames return to action on Wednesday against Montevallo. The GSC match is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the DeVos Tennis Courts.
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LEE UNIVERSITY 5, MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 4
Singles competition
1. #27 Joan Valy (MC) def. Rhys Milne (LEE-M) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
2. Jake Okines (LEE-M) def. Lucio Menezes (MC) 6-1, 6-3
3. Marcos Rocca (MC) def. Igor Schattan (LEE-M) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
4. Bruno Medeiros (LEE-M) def. J. Rodrigo Gonzalez (MC) 6-3, 6-3
5. Daniel Prata (LEE-M) def. Max Nilges (MC) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
6. Jordan Knott (LEE-M) def. Ben Jarvis (MC) 6-2, 6-2
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Doubles competition
1. #6 Joan Valy/Marcos Rocca (MC) def. Rhys Milne/Jake Okines (LEE-M) 8-3
2. Lucio Menezes/Max Nilges (MC) def. Daniel Prata/Igor Schattan (LEE-M) 8-3
3. Bruno Medeiros/Jordan Knott (LEE-M) def. Petar Damjanovic/Sanders Barrick (MC) 8-3
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