PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- For the second time this season, the University of Pikeville men's tennis team lost a close 5-4 battle, falling to NCAA Div. II Charleston (W. Va.) on Saturday evening at Bob Amos Park.
The Bears fell behind 2-1 after doubles play as only the third-seeded pair of Francois Billet and Pawel Tarasewicz could pick up a win, topping Nicholas Bakos and Varun Shah 8-5.
After the slow start in doubles, singles play couldn't have gone better for UPIKE at the top two seeds as Billet overpowered Alex Foote 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 and Dmitry Babenkov cruised past Dennis Okoth 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2.
Charleston fired right back with two straight wins at the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds before fifth-seeded Pawel Tarasewicz tied things up at 4-4 with a 1-6, 6-0, 6-0 three-set win over Bakos.
Ultimately, the Golden Eagles came out on top as Jamie Gibson beat Devon Sgubin 7-6, 6-3 at the No. 6 seed.
UPIKE is back in action at 2 p.m. ET on Monday with fifth-ranked Lindsey Wilson coming to town.
Charleston 5, UPIKE 4
March 21, 2015 at Bob Amos Tennis Courts (Pikeville, Ky.)
Singles
1. Francois Billet (UPIKE) def. Alec Foote (UC) 6-3, 6-2
2. Dmitry Babenkov (UPIKE) def. Dennis Okoth (UC) 6-1, 6-1
3. James Gammell (UC) def. Juan Reyes (UPIKE) 6-4, 6-0
4. Jacob Lorenz (UC) def. Marcos Fondelius (UPIKE) 6-4, 6-3
5. Pawel Tarasewicz (UPIKE) def. Nicholas Bakos (UC) 1-6, 6-0, 6-0
6. Jamie Gibson (UC) def. Devon Sgubin (UPIKE) 7-6, 6-3
Doubles
1. Foote/Okoth (UC) def. Babenkov/Fondelius (UPIKE) 8-6
2. Gammell/Lorenz (UC) def. Reyes/Sgubin (UPIKE) 8-6
3. Billet/Tarasewicz (UPIKE) def. Bakos/Varun Shah (UC) 8-5
Match Notes
UPIKE: 2-4, 1-0 MSC; National Ranking: NR
Charleston: 5-1, 0-0 MEC; National Ranking: NR
