The Michigan Tech Huskies men’s tennis team (0-10, 0-6 GLIAC) wrapped up their home matches this past weekend as they took on GLIAC newcomers the Purdue Northwest Pride (7-8, 1-4 GLIAC) and the Davenport Panthers (11-5, 5-1 GLIAC). The Pride narrowly slipped past Tech 5-4 this past Saturday, while Tech struggled heavily against the Panthers losing 9-0.
On Saturday, April 7, junior Mario Neto put Tech on the scoreboard first, winning his singles match 6-4, 7-6. In the second singles match freshman Nico Caviglia fell by scores 6-3 and 6-3. Freshman Ignacio Carbajosa fell in the third singles match by scores of 6-0 and 6-1. In the fourth singles match freshman Simon Xiong put up a fight, but fell by scores of 6-2, 4-6 and 6-3. Junior Juan Felipe Chica took the match to the third set, but fell by scores of 6-2, 4-6, and 6-3. In the final singles match senior Illiya Chibirev gave Tech their second point winning in three sets 6-4, 3-6, and 6-4.
In the doubles matches Neto and Carbajosa kept Tech rolling by defeating the Pride in the first doubles match by a score of 8-4. Caviglia and Xiong were defeated by the Pride in the second doubles match by a score of 8-0. In the last match of the day Chica and Chibirev dominated to defeat the Pride by a score of 8-2.
“It was a very well-played match today by both programs and give credited to Purdue Northwest for being able to get the win,” Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec said. “I’m really proud of the effort our team gave today. It was our best match of the season so far in doubles and we had solid performances in singles as well, especially in the number one, five, and six spots in the lineup. Our players battled hard and we look forward to getting back out on the court again tomorrow at home.”
On Sunday, April 8, Neto started for Tech in singles and put up a good fight, however fell up short by scores of 6-4, 6-2, and 10-7. Caviglia fell in the second singles match by scores of 6-1 and 6-4. Carbajosa felt the same defeat as Caviglia, as he fell by scores of 6-1 and 6-4. Xiong fell hard in the fourth singles match losing by scores of 6-0 and 6-2. The Panthers Michael Digby defeated Chica in the fifth singles match by scores of 6-0 and 6-4. In the final singles match Chibirev took Davenport’s Max Hartman to a tiebreaker, however Hartman took set one in the extra set. Hartman defeated Chibirev by scores of 7-6 and 6-2.
In the first set of doubles action, Neto and Carbajosa fell to Davenports Marc Lerch and J.L. Van Antwerpen by a score of 8-3. Caviglia and Xiong fell in the second doubles match to the Panthers Johnathan Bulmer and Matthew McClurg by a score of 8-2. In the final match of the day the Panthers completed the sweep by defeating Chica and Chibirev by a score of 8-4.
“I was really proud of our effort again today and credit Davenport who is a very good team,” Kalinec said. “We played better in singles across the board today and our guys battled hard one throughout the lineup. Our second sets in singles matches were strong and we’ll look to build on that next weekend at Tiffin and Wayne State.”
The Huskies will wrap up their regular season as they travel to face the Tiffin Dragons (8-12, 1-5 GLIAC) and the Wayne State Warriors (10-10, 3-2 GLIAC).
