ORLANDO, Fla. – The Lee men's tennis team swept a doubleheader on Monday night to open their four-match Spring Break trip. The Flames took down Wayne State, 5-2 and Dickinson College, 7-0.
"Big win for us today. Our men brought it from the start until the end. That's a legitimate top 50 team and they pushed us all the way. Our guys just refused to go away," said Lee head coach Patric Hynes.
The Flames won the doubles point with three wins. Cristian Pons and Drew Johnston started things off by taking down Pierre Renaudie and Max Rink, 6-3. Bruno Medeiros and Jesus Garcia sealed the point with a 6-4 triumph over Niklas Karcz and Luke Laws, 6-4. Nico Ramirez and Antonio Pons finished it off with a 6-4 win over David Solar and Dom Spicer.
"We changed our doubles up and the guys did a great job to put their heads down and set a tone for the day," added Hynes. "We also got a huge win for Nico at 2, in the last two matches he & Jesus have beaten two guys ranked in the top 20. Great turnaround from Cristian and Antonio, both guys stepped up today and delivered for their team. Very proud of that effort, we need to bring that every single day and the results will take care of themselves."
Ramirez delivered a signature win over No. 18 Karcz, 7-6 (9-7) and 7-5 at No. 2 singles. Garcia battled to claim the first set, 7-6 (7-2) over Renaudie and then cruised to a 6-1 win in set two. Cristian Pons took down Spicer at the three spot, 6-3, 6-4. His brother Antonio Pons followed suite with a, 6-1, 3-6, 10-8 win.
Rink edged Medeiros, 4-6, 6-2, 10-5 and Solar topped Johnston, 6-2, 6-3.
In the nightcap, under the lights the Flames shined and rolled to a 7-0 win over Dickinson State.
Cristian Pons and Johnston served up the first win at No. 3 doubles, 6-1 over Thomas Griffith and Vincent Tover Dias. Medeiros and Garcia fired out to a 6-2 victory over Leonid Sorkin and Andrew Lai. Ramirez and Antonio Pons, 6-4.
Lee rolled past the Red Devils in singles winning all six in straight sets. Good day for us today. The guys did a nice job taking care of business tonight," concluded Hynes.
The two wins move the Flames back to even on the year at 5-5 on the year. Wayne State falls to 8-4 while Dickinson drops to 0-5.
