by Kylee Hanley
ALPHARETTA, GA – The Kennesaw State University men’s tennis team (0-1) fell to Florida Atlantic (2-2) Sunday morning in a 4-3 loss at The Manor Golf and Country Club. First-year head coach Eduardo Rincon lead the Owls in their first dual match of the 2014 season.
“We didn’t come up with the win, which is always disappointing,” Rincon said. “But this is only going to give us more confidence.”
At No. 3 doubles, junior Alex Pena and freshman Jake Bouchillon got an early lead and recorded a 6-2 win over FAU. However, Florida Atlantic recorded wins at No.1 and No. 2 doubles to earn the point. Once in singles play, KSU fought hard with wins from Bouchillon, freshman David Durham and sophomore Jorge Wilton. Bouchillon recorded a 6-5(4), 6-2 victory at No. 5 singles. At No. 3 and No. 6 singles, Wilton and Durham both recorded victories at 6-2, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-2, respectively.
“I was very pleased with my performance,” Wilton said. “I was very pleased with the team’s overall performance. We showed some glimpses of an NCAA ranked team. Evidently there are significant positives that can be taken from the match.”
Although freshman Simon Pritchard did not record a victory at No. 1 singles, he awed spectators with a hard-fought match against FAU’s Andre Morin-Kougocheff. Pritchard lost the first set 6-4, won the second set 6-5(6) and finally fell in the last set 6-2.
“It was one of the most physical matches I’ve every played,” Pritchard said. “My opponent was very strong physically which made it particularly hard to stay in the rallies, especially over all three sets.”
Rincon was pleased with Pritchard’s performance, referring to him as “a true number one.”
“It was a very encouraging start,” Pritchard said. “As experience comes through the season, I think we will be a lot better.”
KSU debuted three freshmen in their first-ever dual matches. Coaches and players all agree that confidence and experience will help carry this particularly young team to new heights.
“I think we’re going in a good direction, we are playing with a lot of confidence and team cohesion,” assistant coach Michael Browder said. Coaches and players feel the team still has a long way to go before they are where they want to be.
