After falling to Georgia Gwinnett College last week, the Kennesaw State’s men’s tennis team hoped to rebound against Macon University on Wednesday, Feb. 1, but again fell short 4-3.
Several players gave strong performances in both the singles and doubles competitions, but Mercer University ultimately came out on top, improving to 2-2, while the Owls fell to 0-3 on the season.
Kennesaw began the afternoon with strong outings from the duo of senior Simon Pritchard and junior Manuel Castellanos, posting the first point, winning their doubles match by a final score of 6-3 and giving the Owls an early lead.
The Owls’ next two points came from Pritchard and senior Sam Slade as each competitor won their respective singles match. Pritchard bested Mercer’s Sam Philip in straight sets in No. 1 singles competition. Slade won the No. 2 singles match, 6-4, 6-2, over the Bears’ Nicolas Guillon.
The closely-contested matchup came down to a showdown in the final match as Kennesaw and Mercer sat tied at 3-3 overall before KSU’s senior Jake Bouchillon hit the court to face Efstathios Tsiranidis in No. 6 singles action. Bouchillon looked impressive early, taking the first set, 6-2, but was topped in the final two sets, 6-3 and 6-4. Tsiranidis’ victory was all the Bears needed to come away with the win.
Hoping to make a comeback, the Owls will travel to Spartanburg to take on Wofford University on Saturday, Feb. 11, at noon.
