The Lipscomb men’s tennis team defeated North Alabama in their match on Sat., Feb. 8 at the Richmond Tennis Club.
This was the Bisons’ first win of the season, making their record 1-1.
“We only had five players when we are supposed to have six, so we were in a bit of a hole to start the matches, but our guys were aware that that was going to be something we would have to deal with this week,” said head coach Mario Hernandez.
“They handled it great and came out with good intensity and focus right from the start to prevent us from getting even into more of a hole.”
Lipscomb’s David Salazar and Robert Mitchell took down Benjamin Poire and Max Druppel of North Alabama 6-4 in doubles. Also in doubles, Stuart Tierney and Miguel Cortez of Lipscomb won their match 6-5(3).
“The guys played pretty loose and didn’t seem to get tight with some of the pressure we faced. I was happy to see that. You want your team to embrace the challenges and the pressure that is going to come with competition,” Hernandez said.
In singles, every player was able to snag a victory. No. 1 Salazar beat Guillaume Dechoz 6-3, 6-5. No. 2 Tierney beat Poire 6-1, 6-3 and No. 4 Cortez beat Aliaksei Kavalenka 6-4, 6-3.
No. 3 Mitchell beat Druppel 6-4 in the first set and then defeated him in the second set 6-0.
No. 5 Nacor Ibanez beat North Alabama’s Ali Murad after a tough tiebreaker that ended 3-6, 6-1, (10-8)
“This match is only the second one of our season,” Hernandez said. “We have a long way to go, but it’s nice to get the first win of the season out of the way in our second match. That being said, we have a lot of work to do and aren’t yet where we want to be. We will get there though.”
The Lipscomb Men’s Tennis team played Vanderbilt Sunday night and will take on Austin Peay at home next Saturday, Feb. 15.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics