CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Lee University Men's Tennis team fell to No. 4 West Florida 4-1 Saturday morning at the Baylor School's indoor courts. It was the Gulf South Conference opener for the Flames (3-1, 0-1 GSC).
The teams started with singles competition and played until one side recorded the match-clinching fourth team point.
West Florida (4-0, 3-0 GSC) grabbed a quick lead following a win at No. 1 singles where Sedar Bojadjiev, ranked No. 8, defeated Jake Okines 6-1, 6-4. Jesus Garcia took down Gerardo Irarrazabal 6-3 and 6-2 at the second spot to even the score at 1-1.
"Very good win for Jesus today," said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. "He does everything at a high level, so to see him go out and play well is pleasing."
Juan Cabrera held off Daniel Prata 6-4, 6-4 to put the Argos back on top. Antonio Pons gave 34
th-ranked Juan Motta all he could take before dropping the opening set 7-6. Motta rode the momentum to win the second set 6-2 and put UWF within one of securing the team win.
West Florida clinched the team win with a 6-0, 6-0 win by Pedro Cordeiro over Bruno Medeiros at No. 6 singles. Cristian Pons lost his opening set 6-3 to Robin Rafaitin and was tied 1-1 in the second set when the fourth team was recorded. The No. 5 singles competition was left unfinished.
"We had a few opportunities that we probably didn't take and UWF are the kind of team who are very good at making you pay. I don't think we played poorly, they are just a very tough team," added Hynes.
The Flames return to the courts on Monday when Martin Methodist visits the DeVos Tennis Center. The non-conference match is set for 2 p.m.
