The men’s and women’s tennis teams lost in their Atlantic Sun Conference opening matches against Lipscomb on Saturday, March 24, but the men rebounded on Sunday to defeat Gardner-Webb.
A 4-2 loss opened up Saturday’s home matches as the men’s team gained points from junior Fermin Calvo Barcelo and freshman Bryan Triana. The Owls began the day with a win in the first doubles match before dropping the next two, falling behind 1-0 overall. After taking the first two singles matches to lead 2-1, the Owls lost the next three, resulting in a loss.
Calvo Barcelo, who earned ASUN all-second team honors last season, breezed past his opponent 6-3 and 6-0 while the four-star recruit Triana fought through a tight 7-5 first set before taking the second set 6-2. In the doubles matches, the sole win for the Owls was by Triana and Drew Lahey.
The women’s team fell 5-2 in their evening matches against Lipscomb with junior Jessica Cantrell and sophomore Aspen Jarrett claiming wins for the Owls.
After dropping the doubles matches, the Owls claimed their first point through Jarrett who won the first set 6-2 before her opponent retired from the match. Later, Cantrell handily won her match, taking the first set 6-4 before blanking her opponent 6-0 in the second.
Saturday’s loss for the men’s team did not seem to affect them the next day as they defeated Gardner-Webb in a 4-0 shutout on Sunday.
The Owls took the lead early in the day with two wins in the doubles matches from pairs Lahey and Triana along with Corey Smith and Lucas de Torres Curth.
Smith opened up the scoring in the singles matches with a straight-set victory, and de Torres Curth followed suit. Triana played the only prolonged match as he rebounded from his second set to win.
“I am really proud of the way we played today,” said director of tennis Eduardo Rincon. “We [strengthened] the doubles lineups up today and were able to clinch the point with solid play from all three doubles lines.”
Both tennis teams will play at home Saturday against Florida Gulf Coast University – The women play at 11 a.m., and the men play at 4 p.m.
