BOCA RATON, Fla.- The Wofford men’s tennis team fell on Friday afternoon to Florida Atlantic by a 5-2 margin. The Terriers nearly escaped with the doubles point which proved to be a momentum changer in the match. Florida Atlantic is now 1-2 on the young season while the Terriers fall to 0-3.
Although the Terriers were defeated, Head Coach Rod Ray was pleased with the way his team competed. “The doubles point was extremely close and I thought we did a nice job in singles too. We played an FAU team that competes hard and executes well,” noted Ray.
The Terriers fell on court two by an 8-1 margin as Daniel Vardag and Joshua Scholl (FAU) def. Alan Donald and Paul Bartholomy (WOF) 8-1. However, Scott Collins and Tinus Van Wyk (WOF) def. Lawrence Harradine and Santiago Nieto (MFAU) 8-2 to even the doubles at one, leaving court number one as the deciding factor for the doubles point. Freshmen Stuart Robertson and Danny Manlow played well early on but a late break of serve gave Florida Atlantic the win and the doubles point.
“In doubles, Scott and Tinus played the best they have played this year. At number one doubles, we were broken late in the match at a crucial time, but we played tough for most of that match.”
The Terriers needed to win four of the remaining six singles matches to take the match but were only able to come up with two. Playing at the number four position, freshman Tinus Van Wyk picked up his second win of the year by a score of 6-3, 6-4 over Joshua School. Alan Donald was the remaining Terrier to pick up a win on the day as he defeated Eddie Majcher 6-3, 7-6 (4).
“In singles, Alan and Tinus showed good focus to win against good players. Matter of fact, I thought everyone showed up ready to go to work today in singles. After losing a close doubles point, we bounced back believing that we could win the match with the singles.”
The Terriers will look to pick up their first win of the season on Sunday as they continue play in south Florida as they take on Barry university in Miami. Coach Ray is hoping today’s match will help springboard the Terriers to a victory on Sunday.
“All in all, we are going to take a lot of positives away from today's match. We are not there yet, but I really believe we are getting better with every match which is a testimony to the character of the players on the team. We face another good team in Barry University of Miami on Sunday. I am excited that we have another opportunity to compete against another quality team right away.”
