KSU’s men’s tennis program finished their season with a disappointing 4-3 loss to the Jacksonville Dolphins that shocked head coach T.J. Greggs.
Senior and team captain Simon Janik didn’t let an early let down in doubles get in the way as he pulled off a three set victory in his final match as an Owl.
“This was one of the most disappointing matches of the season for me,” said Greggs. “With it being senior day and all, I really thought we would all come out here ready for a fight, and that simply was not the case. I think the disappointment of not making the conference tournament weighed the players’ mind, but you have to fight no matter what the circumstance, so I am extremely disappointed that we couldn’t pull it together for Simon’s sake.”
There were a few bright spots in the match as junior Golkalp Ozdemir earned an impressive straight sets win that saw him grind out his opponent in a tiebreak after being down 5-1. It was Ozdemir’s fifth conference win as he led the Owls in conference wins this season.
Freshman Matthew Johnson from Roswell got a rare chance to see some singles action after Junior Gianni Kubin was unable to play due to exhaustion. Johnson pulled off an impressive win after dropping his first set 2-6 and going on to win 6-4, 2-1 (ret.).
The Owls end their year with a program best 10-win season after finishing with a 9-5 record in non-conference play.
