COLUMBIA, Ky. – The 22nd-ranked University of Pikeville men's tennis team lost its first Mid-South Conference match of the season 9-0 at No. 6 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) on Sunday at the Henry Baughman Tennis Complex.
While the score shows a 9-0 shutout, the Bears (9-5, 2-1 MSC) battled in every singles and doubles match, but couldn't turn the corner against the talented Blue Raiders who improve to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the MSC.
In doubles play, top-seeded Ignacio Huertas and Raul Mendez got Lindsey Wilson started with an 8-5 win against
Sven Rodenbusch and
Dmitry Babenkov. Fabricio Morales and Francisco Charters made it a 2-0 lead after an 8-6 win over
Pawel Tarasewicz and
Marcos Fondelius at No. 2.
The Blue Raiders finished the doubles sweep with an 8-2 win from Pablo Vilches and Edberg Espinoza against
Connor Smith and
Francois Billet.
Top-seeded Mendez was the first Blue Raider to finish off a win in singles, beating Babenkov 6-2, 6-4, while third-seeded Morales clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Tarasewicz.
Sven Rodenbusch came the closest to avoiding the shutout as he hung in for a 6-1, 7-5 loss at the No. 2 seed to Espinoza.
UPIKE returns to action at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday against St. Catharine (Ky.) at Bob Amos Park.
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 9, UPIKE 0
March 30, 2014 at Henry Baughman Tennis Complex (Columbia, Ky.)
Singles
1. Raul Mendez (LWC) def.
Dmitry Babenkov (UPIKE) 6-2, 6-4
2. Edberg Espinoza (LWC) def.
Sven Rodenbusch (UPIKE) 6-1, 7-5
3. Fabricio Morales (LWC) def.
Pawel Tarasewicz (UPIKE) 6-2, 6-1
4. Francisco Charters (LWC) def.
Francois Billet (UPIKE) 6-3, 6-3
5. Ignacio Huertas (LWC) def.
Marcos Fondelius (UPIKE) 6-1, 6-3
6. Pablo Vilches (LWC) def.
Felix Singer (UPIKE) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. Huertas/Mendez (LWC) def.
Sven Rodenbusch/Babenkov (UPIKE) 8-5
2. Morales/Charters (LWC) def. Tarasewicz/Fondelius (UPIKE) 8-6
3. Vilches/Espinoza (LWC) def.
Connor Smith/Billet (UPIKE) 8-2
Match Notes
Pikeville: 9-5, 2-1 MSC; National Ranking: No. 22
Lindsey Wilson: 7-1, 3-0 MSC; National Ranking: No. 6
