CLINTON, Miss. – The Lee University men's tennis team extended its win streak to seven with a 6-1 Gulf South Conference win at Mississippi College.
The Flames (15-3, 5-2 GSC) grabbed an early lead when Antonio Pons' opponent at No. 3 singles retired with Pons leading 2-0 in the opening set. Cristian Pons pushed the Lee lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Brady McDaniel at the fifth position. Daniel Prata used a 13-11 tie-breaker to win his second set with Max Nilges and complete the straight-set win.
Jake Okines posted scores of 7-5 and 6-2 at No. 1 singles against Maksym Konovalov to clinch the team victory.
Ben Jarvis put the Choctaws (5-10, 3-4 GSC) on the board when Bruno Medeiros retired with Jarvis leading 3-0 in the first set.
Jesus Garcia battled Francois Le Tallec to three sets. Le Tallec, ranked No. 65 in singles competition, used a 7-5 tie-breaker to win the opening set 7-6. Garcia responded with a 6-4 margin in the second set and completed the comeback with a 10-0 super set tie-breaker score.
Lee won two of the three doubles matches to pick up the team point. Nilges and Konovalov won by default at the No. 1 position. Cristian Pons and Garcia held off McDaniel and Le Tallec 7-5 to even the score. Antonio Pons and Prata won at the third position by the same score against Jarvis and William Clausen.
"Our guys did a nice job today," said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. "Matches with Mississippi College are always tough and to come out with a 6-1 win is a great result for us."
The Flames return home to battle West Alabama at the DeVos Tennis Center on Wednesday. The GSC contest is scheduled for a 2 p.m. EDT start.
