MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Taking on its first competition of the season against a ranked opponent, the No. 18 University of Pikeville men's tennis team came up short against No. 14 Belhaven (Miss.) with a 7-2 loss on Friday morning in the Auburn Montgomery Invitational.
Play continues for the Bears in the invitational at Noon ET on Saturday against No. 11 William Carey (Miss.).
The lone UPIKE winners against Belhaven were second-seeded Francois Billet topping Daniel Duarte 6-0, 3-0 and the third-seeded doubles pair of Billet and Pawel Tarasewicz winning against Omar Lopez and Rafael Siqueira 9-8 (5).
Two other Pikeville singles players lost in a third-set tiebreaker. No. 3 seed Dmitry Babenkov fell to Lachlan Puyol 7-5, 5-7 (10) and Tarasewicz lost to Daniel Prado 6-4, 7-6 (3) at the No. 4 seed.
No. 14 Belhaven 7, No. 18 UPIKE 2
March 6, 2015 at AUM Tennis Courts (Montgomery, Ala.)
Singles
1. Jefferson Nino (BU) def. Juan Reyes (UPIKE) 6-3, 6-1
2. Francois Billet (UPIKE) def. Daniel Duarte (BU) 6-0, 3-0
3. Lachlan Puyol (BU) def. Dmitry Babenkov (UPIKE) 7-5, 5-7 (10)
4. Daniel Prado (BU) def. Pawel Tarasewicz (UPIKE) 6-4, 7-6 (3)
5. Omar Lopez (BU) def. Marcos Fondelius (UPIKE) 6-3, 6-4
6. Rafael Siqueira (BU) def. Devon Sgubin (UPIKE) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
Doubles
1. Duarte/Alexander Puyol (BU) def. Reyes/Sgubin (UPIKE) 9-8 (4)
2. Nino/Prado (BU) def. Babenkov/Fondelius (UPIKE) 8-5
3. Billet/Tarasewicz (UPIKE) def. Lopez/Siqueira (BU) 9-8 (5)
Match Notes
UPIKE: 1-1, 0-0 MSC; National Ranking: No. 18
Belhaven: 9-2, 0-0 GMAC; National Ranking: 14
