BOCA RATON, FL (March 14, 2010) – The Florida Atlantic University men’s tennis team dropped a pair of hard-fought matches on Sunday afternoon at Patch Reef Park in Boca Raton. The Owls fell 4-2 to nationally-ranked Troy University before losing 4-3 to Cleveland State University.
“It was a challenging double-header full of opportunities on every court,” said Men’s Tennis Head Coach Brandon Stokes, whose team broke a four-match winning streak and now has a 7-5 dual match record this spring. “We will bounce back smarter, more courageous and tougher because of Sunday’s performances.”
FAU tried to rally to overcome a talented Troy team that’s ranked 75th in the recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s national poll. Four of the six singles matches went three sets before deciding the victor.
Junior Marc Abdelnour won a three-set decision at No. 1 singles over Troy’s Luis Henrique Grangeiro, who is ranked 17th in the South Region rankings. Abdelnour won the deciding third set by a 6-4 score. Then, he teamed with freshman Matthew Braunworth to post a victory at No. 3 doubles with by an 8-3 score.
Junior Ervin Garibovic earned a come-from-behind victory in the No. 3 singles position, winning the third set by a commanding 6-1 score.
Against Cleveland State, the Owls managed to get singles victories from Abdelnour, who dropped only five games in a straight-set victory at No. 1, and Braunworth, who was victorious at No. 6 by 7-5, 6-1 scores. The team managed to get the match’s doubles point with Abdelnour and Garibovic combining for a win No. 2, and the team of junior Joshua Scholl and sophomore Derek Madon won at No. 3.
Abdelnour picked up four victories on the afternoon.
Florida Atlantic was forced to play the double-header after rain postponed the Troy match, which was originally scheduled last Friday.
The Owls will play their eighth straight home match on Tuesday, March 16 against New Jersey Institute of Technology, starting at 2 p.m., at Patch Reef Park.
