LAKE WALES, FL – The St. Thomas University Bobcats men's tennis team played St. Vincent last week and then went on a 3-match road trip this past weekend and took home all four matches played. On Wednesday, the team played St. Vincent and dismissed them easily 9-0, they then traveled up to St. Petersburg to play Eckerd College where the Bobcats won by a score of 7-2. The Bobcats then took their success back on the road to take on two conference opponents on Saturday, in Warner University and Webber International University. Against Webber the guys pulled out a thrilling match 5-4, that came down to Kenny Evans pulling out a tough 3 set match at #5 singles to win the match, from there the guys continued their domination by crushing Warner by a score of 9-0. With the wins the Bobcats improved their overall record to 5-4 and 3-2 in The Sun Conference. The Bobcats have now also qualified for The Sun Conference Tournament.
In the first match against St. Vincent College, the Bobcats came out and dominated early in the doubles only dropping 3 games total. They continued their excellent play as they moved into singles and the Bobcats won all the matches relatively easy, with only one match having a close set. 1 through 4 singles only lost a combined 2 games and 6th singles lost only 1.
The men then traveled up to St. Petersburg on Friday to take on Eckerd College. The Bobcats played great in doubles winning all three doubles matched by a close margin 8-6. Pulling out all 3 matched by only one break gave the Bobcats great confidence heading into singles play. In the singles, the top two spots suffered tough losses, but the rest of the singles won. William Fountain and Andrew Rifikin lost a combined 1 game at the 3 and 4 singles slots.
The men then traveled to take on Webber International University. This was the first time the Bobcats have beaten Webber in Coach Carrington's ten years at the school. In doubled play, the Bobcats dropped 2 out of 3 including a tough tiebreaker loss at #2 doubles. The Bobcats regrouped and came out firing in the singles winning 4 out of the 6 to win the match. The match came down to Kenny Evans at #5 singles. Evans won the first set 7-5 and then dropped the second set 6-2. With the fate of the Bobcats on the line, Evans was able to get a 3-1 lead in the 3rd set and wore down his opponent to the point he had to retire. This clinched the win for the Bobcats giving them the 5-4 win.
From the big conference win against Webber, then Bobcats then traveled to play another conference foe, Warner University. Warner was not at the level of the Bobcats as the Bobcats rolled them convincingly by a score of 9-0. The doubles was won easily with the Bobcats dropping 3 combined games and only 6 games in the singles.
The men played excellent over the week, picking up 4 wins to run their season total to 5. The win over Webber was very impressive for the Bobcats as it proved that they are conference title contenders. The men have been working hard at their games and it showed in the matches this past week.
STU St. Vincent Winner Score
Bache Parkhill STU 8-0
Fountain Filipiak
Acevedo Smith STU 8-2
Marquez Chirdon
Evans DiVincenzo STU 8-1
Vazquez Camaione
Escarate Smith STU 6-0, 6-1
Bache Chirdon STU 6-0, 6-0
Fountain Parkhill STU 6-0, 6-1
Rifkin DiVincenzo STU 6-0, 6-0
Evans Filipiak STU 6-2, 7-6
Acevedo Meholic STU 6-0, 6-1
STU Eckerd Winner Score
Escarate Maxwell STU 8-6
Rifkin Sato
Bache Kleefield STU 8-6
Fountain Walker
Acevedo Eitel STU 8-6
Marquez Weeks
Escarate Maxwell Eckerd 6-4, 6-2
Bache Sato Eckerd 6-1, 6-4
Fountain Kleefield STU 6-0, 6-0
Rifkin McDonald STU 6-1, 6-0
Evans Walker STU 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
Marquez Eitel STU 8-1
STU Webber Winner Score
Escarate Cardoso Webber 8-4
Rifkin Andermatt
Bache Teixeira Webber 9-8 (8-6)
Fountain Franco
Acevedo Cachan STU 8-4
Marquez Hospedales
Escarate Teixeira STU 6-0, 7-6 (7-4)
Bache Andermatt Webber 6-4, 6-2
Fountain Cardoso Webber 6-2, 6-4
Rifkin Cachan STU 6-2, 6-4
Evans Franco STU 7-5, 2-6, 3-1 (ret)
Acevedo Hospedales STU 6-1, 6-2
STU Warner Winner Score
Escarate Lawson STU 8-1
Rifkin Lopez
Acevedo Joyner STU 8-2
Marquez Mahlam
Evans Palaceos STU 8-0
Vazquez Palaceos
Escarate Lopez STU 6-1, 6-0
Bache Lawson STU 6-1, 6-1
Rifkin Mahlam STU 6-0, 6-0
Evans Joyner STU 6-1, 6-2
Acevedo Palaceos STU 8-0
Vazquez Palaceos STU
