PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 9 West Florida men’s tennis team (8-7, 3-1 GSC) defeated No. 8 Drury (6-4) 6-3 on Tuesday March 24 at the Ralph “Skeeter” Carson Tennis Complex, avenging a loss to the Panthers earlier this season.
In the third doubles spot, Mike Lue (freshman/Richmond Hill, Ontario) and Jose Ycaza (senior/Guayaquil, Ecuador) fell 8-3 to Panthers Alex Kacamakis and Antonio Garcia Santos. In the first spot, Andrey Pozhidaev (freshman/Sochi, Russia) and Kevin Ducros (freshman/Aix-en-Provence, France) defeated Nahom Serekeberhan and Ivan Marevic with an 8-6 score to tie the match at 1-1. The action was decided in a tiebreak when Argonauts Patrick Bateman (sophomore/Apopka, Fla.) and Luis Arboleda (senior/Medellin, Colombia) fell 9-8 to Anton Khadasevich and Juan Ponce. The Panthers had the 2-1 lead entering the singles play.
In the fifth spot, Garcia Santos defeated Sean Gunnels (freshman/Mobile, Ala.) with a 6-2, 6-2 score to give the Panthers the 3-1 lead. The Argonauts bounced back to tie the match at 3-3 by winning the next two matches in straight sets. Ducros only dropped a game in his 6-1, 6-0 win over No. 38 Serekeberhan in the first spot, meanwhile No. 48 Bateman defeated No. 45 Khadasevich 7-5, 6-2 in the third singles.
With the scoreboard at 3-3, both teams could come out victorious, as the three remaining matches were decided in the third set. Argonaut Pozhidaev rallied from a set down to defeat Panther Ponce 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the second singles. Yzaca won the first set and let the second slip away to Marevic in a tiebreak. In the third set, the Argonaut sixth player did not have trouble to close the match at 6-4, 6-7, 6-2, and give West Florida the fifth point to secure the win. In the last remaining match, Arboleda came back from a set deficit to beat Kacamakis 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the fourth spot.
With the win West Florida improved to a 8-7 overall record and posted its first win over a higher ranked opponent in the 2009 season. West Florida will now face No. 4 Georgia College & State (12-1) on Thursday March 26 at 2:00 pm. For more information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
