Courtesy of Morgan State Athletic Communications
ALTOONA, Pa., Feb. 7, 2021 -- The Morgan State men's tennis team opened the 2021 season with a hard-fought 4-3 win over the Saint Francis Red Flash at Gorilla House Gym on Sunday.
The Bears (1-0) trailed 1-0 during the early going as SFU (0-2) captured the doubles point. Samuel Ghigiarelli and Jordi Garcia recorded a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles over newcomers R. Rankins and Martial Kawunde.
The tandem of Sebastian Pinos and Andrew Texeira finished with a 6-3 decision over veteran standouts Nihit Rawal and Serhii Kharchev to clinch the point at No. 1 doubles.
In singles, Rawal got the Bears the first point of the day by winning at No. 1 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Sebastian Pinos. Senior Oguzhan Ceylan then put the Bears up 2-0 with a strong performance at No. 3 by defeating Jordi Garcia 6-2, 6-2.
Kharchev battled to a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles against Texeira to give the Bears a 3-1 lead and clinch the victory for the Bears.
"It's been a long time coming, but we are excited to get back to competing," Morgan State head coach Matthew Townes said.
"Our seniors stepped up in a big way today. They showed the experience needed to overcome adversity and got the W even after dropping the doubles point. Great day to be a Bear."
The Red Flash took the last two matches as senior Sebastian Lopez gave it all he could before falling to Christian Banti 6-2, 7-6 (4). Kawunde fell to Matt Blose 6-4, 6-4.
"We are more excited about getting back to work and improving for our next match," Townes said.