CLINTON, Miss. – The No. 18 Lee University men's tennis team completed its regular season with a 5-2 win over No. 26 Mississippi College Saturday morning at the MC Tennis Complex. The Flames finished the regular season at 13-2 overall and 6-2 in the GSC, while the Choctaws fell to 13-8, 4-3 GSC.
Wihan van der Merwe and Rytis Razminas opened doubles competition with a 6-2 defeat of Alvaro Saint Martin and Sergio Ramirez Ocana at No. 3 doubles. Filipe Krohn and Stefan Mos took down Florian Walcher and Walker Ellis 6-2 to secure the doubles point.
Alex Benichou Blanchard and Rafael Sabio outlasted Quinn Groenendijk and Jip Langerhuizen to win 7-6 at No. 1 singles with a 13-11 tiebreaker.
Blanchard, ranked No. 3, tied the team score with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 44 van der Merwe. Groenendijk battled back from a 6-2 loss in his opening set with Sabio to win the next two sets 7-5 and 6-1 to put the Flames back into the lead.
Langerhuizen won the first and third sets of his No. 4 singles match against Gustavo Tedesco to put Lee ahead by two points. Krohn dropped his first set with Walcher 6-3 and forced a third set with a 6-2 score in the second set. The third set went to a tiebreaker where Krohn outscored Walcher 7-3 for the win and clinched the team victory.
Ocana was a 6-1, 6-0 winner at No. 6 singles against Razminas. Mos split the first two sets with Saint Martin with a 6-2 win in the opener and a 7-5 loss in the second. Mos posted a super set tiebreaker score of 10-4 to supply the final team margin.
The Flames have earned the third seed in the upcoming GSC Championship and will be matched up with the sixth seed University of Montevallo. The Quarterfinal match is set for April 24 in Montgomery, Ala., at either Lagoon Park or O'Connor Tennis Center.
Coach Patric Hynes' Thoughts:
"Really good win for our men. We were really sharp in doubles today. Two and three doubles jumped out fast and we also had opportunities at 1, but credit to their guys.
"So many momentum swings in the singles, they were in the driver's seat for a while, then we were, a lot of really close matches.
"To clinch with two of those three wins from a set down showed a lot of grit.
"Quinn was fantastic today in singles, a real captains effort.
"Jip fought back from a set down and showed a huge heart.
"Filipe figured out a way to get it done. He competed really well, especially in the third set tiebreaker.
"A really good team win today, that's a good Mississippi College men's team, to get that one on the road was tough.
"Looking forward to getting back, having some rest & recovery before we prepare for the GSC tournament."
